Exclusive: Walt Williams speaks on Ja Morant’s confrontation with Indiana Pacers: "This is something that could change everybody’s life"
Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies has had his run-ins in the NBA for how talented he is as well as for having extremely confident teammates. However, as a rising star in the league, Morant is yet to learn how he leads his entourage in certain situations, causing trouble for some.
A few weeks ago, there were reports of Morant's party getting in trouble with the staff of the Indiana Pacers. The Athletic reported that some of Morant's friends had a confrontation with Pacers personnel. The two-time All-Star commented on the matter, shortly after it became known to the public.
Morant quickly denied the claims in an interview.
"Nah, all that stuff, pretty much false. It's been proven. You see it everyday on social media. Anything that got something to do with the Memphis Grizzlies, it's frontline."
Ja Morant finally speaks out, refuting a report from The Athletic about a confrontation between his friends and Indiana Pacers personnel. @JaMorant also says @memgrizz are the most hated team in the NBA. https://t.co/rXDjJ3FuVu
Former NBA player Walt Williams gave his two cents on the matter. In the most recent edition of "The BallFather Podcast," a Sporskeeda exclusive, Williams shared that Morant's entourage could heavily affect his career in the NBA.
"Sometimes you need your friends to help you, but other times you need to be able to say to your friends, 'Hey, this is what we're doing.' You need to help them as well."
He added:
"In those moments, you could see that both parties were immature and not in a frame of mind to be able to help each other so, you gotta reflect on that and understand that moving forward, something like that can never, ever happen again."
Williams finished it off with this:
"This is something that could change everybody's life. "
Also read: Why was Ja Morant's friend banned? Laser incident explained
Ja Morant is an All-Star starter for a second-straight season
Ahead of the 2023 NBA All-Star game in Utah, the league announced that Ja Morant will be taking over the starting spot. This became possible due to Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors dealing with a leg injury. Curry is expected to miss several weeks and will be re-evaluated during the All-Star break.
Ja Morant, Joel Embiid and Lauri Markkanen will replace Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Zion Williamson as starters in the #NBAAllStar Game ⭐️ https://t.co/pE31Yz6ayz
Morant isn't the only player to be recently named a starter for this year's All-Star game. Lauri Markkenen of the Utah Jazz and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers were both announced to take the place of the injured starters.
Former Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant and New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson will be on the sidelines as well. Both are dealing with injuries that caused them to miss games for their respective teams.
Morant is averaging 27.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists for the Grizzlies this season. He's also shooting the ball great, making 46.8% of his shots and 32.9% of his three-pointers. With his leadership, Memphis is currently 33-21 in the tough Western Conference.
Also read: "Fake tough guy act": Ja Morant's "hollows" tweet surfaces after NBA star mocks 'negative' laser incident coverage