Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant is once again in headlines for his off-the-court activities. A video surfaced over the weekend of him on Instagram live flashing a gun.
The All-Star point guard was caught in a similar scandal at the end of the regular season and the team was forced to remove him for an extended period.
The timing of all this cannot be worse for Ja Morant. He just made the leap to superstardom, and continues to be caught in messes like this for his actions outside of basketball. As of now, there has yet to be clear repercussions for this second offense.
“This is up to Ja. This is up to him,” Wilbon said during Sunday’s broadcast of “NBA Countdown.”
“There are people who could be around him who are going to have to help lead him out of this.”
We hear about four or five days or eight days or whatever at some facility in Florida, that’s a joke. That’s PR,” Wilbon said of Morant checking himself into a clinic for stress management following his suspension in March.
“And so you could try to PR your way out of this through other social media forms and all of that. But the question is, is he going to do the work that is required of himself to get out of this and for this not to be the end?”
Wilbon continued, “Because what’s going to happen now? Nike going to pull that shoe? Is Powerade going to pull that drink?”
“I know in my house, I told Matthew, ‘You can’t have the shoe. I’m not buying that shoe. You’re not buying that shoe. Our money as a family is not going toward that.’ And so I’m not the only one who’s going to feel that way.”
The Grizzlies released a statement Sunday in which they announced that Morant would be suspended for an undisclosed period of time pending a “league review.”
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings