"This was his chance to live like he's an NBA superstar" - League source attributes Ja Morant's thug-like behavior to Tee Morant
Ja Morant is expected to miss the first two months of the 2023-24 season, as he's serving a 25-game suspension following off-court issues in the last part of the 2022-23 season. League sources have attributed his father, Tee Morant, for his son's behavior.
On two occassions, in March and May this year, Morant appeared in a social media video holding a gun. The league initially suspended him for eight games and then for 25 games after the second incident.
For his part, Ja Morant is trying to turn things around and find some stability in his life off the court, which has been quite turbulent in the last few months.
The Grizzlies, though, will have zero tolerance to Morant's off-court trouble and expect him to be disciplined and committed on his return. However, many believe that his father, Tee Morant, is among the ones to blame for his son's behavior.
"Tee has been a major driving force in all of this. He never made the NBA, but this was his chance to live like he's an NBA superstar. That's been a problem from the beginning," one Grizzlies source said, via ESPN.
It appears that the Memphis organization didn't like the way Tee Morant has recently behaved. That include the two incidents he got into: the first with analyst Shannon Sharpe at Crypto.com Arena, and the other with the Indiana Pacers' bench.
What issues Ja Morant has been dealing with over the last 18 months?
When Ja Morant joined the league in 2019, everybody was referring to his talent and his excellent on- and off-court behavior.
In his first couple of seasons in the NBA, Morant was playing excellent basketball on the court and had zero issues off it.
"Zero. He was the consummate coachable teammate, a choir boy. Underrecruited. Didn't have many scholarship offers. Played with a chip on his shoulder. Glowing stuff. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing," an NBA scout told ESPN.
It appears, though, that things changed after the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, where Morant was a starter following an impressive performance in the first part of the 2021-22 season.
"There was no discipline. They felt like they could do anything they wanted. In my opinion, the enabling was out of control. Just constant. Definitely s--- was swept under the rug," a Grizzlies source told Tim MacMahon and Baxter Holmes of ESPN.
Even though the Grizzlies did their best to help him turn things around, Ja Morant had no desire to change his behavior. The team couldn't allow this behavior continue.
After the March incident and eight-game suspension, Morant sought counseling and help. However, it appears that his off-court issues were nowhere close to getting solved. Despite playing well on the floor, there were still plenty that needed to be done off it.
The second incident in mid-May exacerbated things. Ja Morant was called out by his team, which suspended him from all team activities, and NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, who suspended him for 25 games.
Morant will be allowed to participate in team activities during his suspension but cannot play for the Grizzlies. They have brought in veteran guards Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose to mitigate Morant's absence.
Despite what Memphis GM and front office say publicly, it looks like this will be Ja Morant's last chance to turn things around.
"At this point, it (an apology) doesn't matter until he follows through. I couldn't care less about words. Ja has to prove it," Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman told media in June, via ESPN.
Ja Morant, who will kick off his five-year, $197,2 million deal with the Grizzlies this year, is expected to return to action sometime before Christmas Day.