Ja Morant, April 26, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)/Ja Morant (Instagram Live screenshot, May 13, 2023)/Michael Wilbon and son, Matthew, (Facebook post dated 2016)/Nike Ja 1 (Photo: Nike)
The latest gun-flashing incident involving basketball player Ja Morant has upset many; veteran sports reporter Michael Wilborn, for one, has had enough.
National Basketball Association star Morant, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, was suspended another time after a video surfaced recently on social media showing the star guard holding a gun.
The latest video popped up on May 13, and the Grizzlies announced the suspension on May 14, two months after the NBA suspended Morant, 23, over a similar incident.
The gun-pointing incident occurred during an Instagram Live session on Morant’s friend Davonte Pack’s account. He flashed what appeared to be a handgun while driving and singing along with a song “1.5” by hip-hop artist YoungBoy NBA. The video has since been deleted.
A similar incident happened in March after a video captured him holding a gun while intoxicated at a Denver club when the Grizzlies were in town to play the Nuggets. Morant entered a counseling program, and he was suspended for eight games.
During a recent interview, Wilbon said, “I told [my son] you can’t have the shoe… Our money as a family is not going toward that.”
The sneakers are Nike Ja 1, produced through Morant’s lucrative deal with Nike.
The Nike Ja 1 was originally intended to launch on April 1, 2023. However, Nike pushed the release date back to April 19 after Morant’s first suspension in March, Sports Illustrated reported.
ESPN’s Michael Wilbon won’t let son get Ja Morant sneakers after second gun video.
The “Pardon the Interruption” star and ESPN NBA analyst said on May 15 on “NBA Countdown” that his son, Matthew, is not allowed to buy Ja Morant’s new signature Nike shoe after the latest gun incident.
“This is up to Ja. This is up to him,” Wilbon said during a discussion with Stephen A. Smith, Jalen Rose, and Mike Greenberg, The New York Post reported. “He’s old enough now – he’s not the normal 23, 24-year-old. He’s not. … There are people who could be around him who are gonna have to help lead him out of this.”
Wilbon continued, “We hear about four or five days or eight days or whatever at some facility in Florida; that’s a joke. That’s PR. 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 gonna do the work that is required of himself to get out of this and for this not to be the end?”
Wilbon said he would not support Morant in any way.
“Because what’s gonna happen now? Nike gonna pull that shoe? Is Powerade gonna 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 gonna feel that way,” Wilbon said.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant sits on the bench during the first half of Game 5 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, April 26, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)/Ja Morant (Instagram Live screenshot, May 13, 2023)/Michael Wilbon and son, Matthew, (Facebook post dated 2016, https://www.facebook.com/RealMichaelWilbon/photos/matthew-and-dad-at-his-very-first-chicago-cubs-postseason-game-maybe-hes-the-goo/1480185801995215/?paipv=0&eav=Afaq_3fT5MAnfMqr9qeTAeCGUOhC6KkXDWBWbmq8AdQLp5s2METjRdioDH2cvIBD7To&_rdr)/Nike Ja 1 (Photo: Nike)
