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One former Grizzlies player isn’t pleased with the latest Ja Morant controversy.
On Tuesday, in Morant’s fourth game since returning from a 25-game suspension for flashing a gun in an Instagram video for a second time, Morant celebrated finishing an alley-oop by stretching his arms out, with some observers wondering if the All-Star guard was using finger guns.
Morant, 24, reposted a video on X suggesting he was mimicking an LSU football celebration; the Grizzlies were in New Orleans on Tuesday, winning 116-115 in overtime, to move to 4-0 since Morant’s return.
Some critics, like Chandler Parsons, don’t seem to be buying it.
“It’s ridiculous,” Parsons said on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” show. “You gotta grow up. Why are we talking about this? Your team is 4-0 [since Morant’s return.] You’ve been unbelievable. You’ve now been probably forgiven to a certain point, especially in Memphis, right? The team is back to being yours. You’re playing at an elite level. Why are you giving us anything like this to even talk about, to discuss, that’s negative? Why is your father [Tee Morant] doing interviews talking about how you didn’t make any changes in your personal life and your issues, sitting courtside with his hood and glasses on.
“What else has to happen for you and your family and your friends to learn? Just make this about basketball, make this about your life, make this about your livelihood, and stop doing things like this because you’re must-see TV on the court. Aside from Anthony Edwards, you are my favorite player to watch. Don’t give us any of this other bulls–t to talk about. Just be a star.”
Morant was first suspended eight games last season when he flashed a gun during an Instagram Live video on March 4 while he was at the Shotgun Willie’s strip club in Glendale, Colo.
He later claimed the gun wasn’t his.
Two months later, Morant was caught holding a gun in another Instagram Live video while he was riding in a car, leading to the 25-game ban he served to begin this season.
Parsons, who played three seasons with the Grizzlies from 2016-19, was ostensibly referring to an interview Morant’s dad, Tee, did with SiriusXM radio last Wednesday.
“Answer this, what crime did he commit?” Tee Morant said, according to the Commercial Appeal. “I’m being devil’s advocate right now. I’m being a father and a devil’s advocate right now. Because, like I said, you don’t put him on the guillotine if he didn’t commit a crime, is what I’m saying. And I tell my son, you made a crime to humanity ’cause so many kids look up to you. You don’t wanna be the one that they say, ‘We did this because Ja did this and it’s out of bounds.’ The dumb Griddy dance? They could do that all day. They can dye their hair all day. But if it’s something out of bounds, I don’t agree with it. And he don’t agree with it.”
Tee Morant also said he and his son have the same inner circle.
“It’s always funny that people want you to change your circle even if, like, he don’t have no killers around him,” Tee said. “He’s got educated people around him. But everyone else thinks, ‘OK, this person is this, this person is that.’ No. Everybody knows their task. It was a bad decision. But it wasn’t a crime.”
Morant is in the first season of a five-year, $197 million contract extension he signed with the Grizzlies in 2022.
He’s averaging 28.8 points and 8.5 assists in his four games this season.
The Grizzlies continue their road trip Thursday night against the Nuggets, the team’s first visit to Denver since Morant’s initial gun video nearly 10 months ago.
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