Yet another past police investigation involving Ja Morant emerged last week.
The superstar point guard is away from the Grizzlies for several games after the NBA laid an 8-game suspension upon him after he flashed a gun on IG Live while he was partying at a strip club. That same week, he had been the subject of a lengthy Washington Post story detailing several off-court altercations in which he’d allegedly been involved.
Morant was investigated by police in Tennessee in connection with an incident in which the NBA star and members of his circle went to Houston High School and confronted a student who had allegedly called his sister, Teniya, a “bitch” at a volleyball game.
Morant’s sister had also allegedly called the other student a bitch.
Morant sat down with ESPN’s Jalen Rose this week to discuss that incident as well as the other ones that have had him in the news.
Here was the conversation, transcribed via Bro Bible:
Jalen Rose: “And then there was a situation that potentially happened with your sister, surrounding a volleyball game. Can you shed some light in to what took place in that scenario?”
Ja Morant: “That’s my baby sister. You know, I received a call and was checking on her safety. (It was) another situation where once I found out she was safe I left the scene.”
“Obviously, I realized ‘Ja showed up’ and that’s all everybody really needed to paint whatever picture they want. And I realize now that’s a problem. And I put myself in those situations.”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
During the interview, Rose asked Morant directly about the gun incident.
“The gun wasn’t mine,” Morant said. “It’s not who I am. I don’t condone any type of violence, but I take full responsibility for my actions. I’ve made a bad mistake. I can see the image that I’ve painted over myself with my recent mistakes. In the future I’m gonna show everybody who Ja really is, what I’m about, and change this narrative.”
Morant claims he mistakenly used nights like the one in Denver as an “escape,” but wants to prove that those types of moments don’t define him as a person.
“Honestly, I feel like we put ourselves in that situation with our past mistakes, and now it’s only right that we focus in and lock in on being smarter and more responsible, holding each other accountable for everything,” Morant said. “I feel like in the past we didn’t know what was at stake. And now finally me having that time to realize everything, have that time alone, I realize that now.
The local police department and the NBA concluded that the firearm did not belong to Morant, and he did not carry it with him on the team plane. As a result, he was not charged with a crime, but he was suspended.
Morant’s eight-game suspension will include games he has already missed while he was away from the team.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Twitter was not believing Ja Morant’s denial that the gun belonged to him… Not for a second.
