"Pants half down your a**, that’s okay" - Patrick Beverley names music as the primary cause for Ja Morant's trouble
Memphis Grizzlies' star point guard Ja Morant remains away from the team indefinitely following his gun-brandishing incident at a Colorado nightclub. The incident was just the latest in a series of controversies involving Morant.
These include allegations that Morant both assaulted a teenager during a pickup basketball game and threatened a Memphis mall security officer this past summer.
Morant has since entered a counseling program in Florida to help him “work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and (his) overall well-being." However, according to Chicago Bulls veteran point guard Patrick Beverley, the root cause of Morant’s behavioral issues is music.
During a recent interview with Barstool Sports, Beverley explained the negative effects that modern hip-hop music has had on the culture:
"I think music has a lot to do with this now,” Beverley said.
“Especially with this culture. Everyone holding a gun in the video is okay. You know, bling on your teeth is okay. Pants half down you’re a**, that’s okay. So, that’s okay now.
“Back in the day, there was a m*********r on the beach in a silk shirt talking about some ‘yeah baby, let’s party like we’re in the 80s.’ Everybody had on silk shirts, and everybody was dressed the same. It’s just a product of what we listen to.
"The culture now is ‘shoot them up, bang bang, bang bang shoot them up, bend you over, I got this amount money, I’m on private jets,' That’s what the younger generation is. Sadly to say, it should be based on our music, but it is mostly based on what we listen to, and that’s how it is.
“Eminem came out, and Eminem was rapping, ‘palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy,’ he had on a hoodie. Everybody back then had on a hoodie and big jeans. If Eminem would've came out like, ‘yeah I carry pipes, I carry straps, I got 12 guns,’ every White kid in America would’ve had a f***ing gun on them back then,” Beverley added.
NBA insider thinks that Ja Morant might not play again this season
It remains to be seen when Ja Morant will be able to return to the Memphis Grizzlies. However, according to Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, Morant may not return before the end of the season.
During a recent appearance on "The Hoop Collective" podcast, Spears touched on the concerns he has heard surrounding Morant:
"I think there's a lot going on," Spears said.
"My prayers to him, that he figures it out. There's things I'm hearing that I'd rather probably not say on this podcast. I hope he's taking care of himself. I'm not really worried about the basketball part for him right now, I'm worried about the human part.
"When he does come back, he's healthy mentally and physically. My guess now is, not that you'd bet on this, that he doesn't play the rest of the season as he takes care of himself,” he continued.
Spears on Jamorant https://t.co/g5oRW6VhAc
Memphis (41-26, second in the West) are 7-7 without Morant this season. Ja Morant is averaging 27.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 46.3% shooting through 53 games.
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