Shams: Grizzlies Suspend Ja Morant from All Team Activities

[Lockdown504090]

Ja had Silver's voice cracking. This man is missing half the season.

My sense of Silver's approach to dealing with players is that it comes from his partnership ethos - hey we're all in this together building the game and the brand. It's respectful and mature and leads to a lot of leeway in terms of approaching problems with good faith, taking players at their word.

But there's a resolute side to Silver as well, particularly when the game and brand are affected, and when good graces are dismissed and outright mocked to boot.

It's his job to protect and grow the game and brand with the partners. Well the partners are upset at the image this portrays and this growing consensus gives Silver a bigger plate on which to serve just desserts.

You get the sense that this will have strong consequences and this time there will not be any controversy about length or whether it's justified.

I expect a double digit game punishment, something starting with a 2.

Incredible that Morant already missed out on $40M after repeated behaviour flying in the face of team mates and league officials and the league itself yet chose to double down.

All but gave Silver the loaded FAFO ammo.

silver is about making paper. He been letting ppl slide because it wasnt affecting the business. He allowed to social justice stuff because it didnt hurt the league and the everyone was with it. He didnt do none about load management because its not affecting the money. Ja is affecting the money. They cant use him in promos, nike is a parter, nike cant use him either... i dont know what Adam's version of a tough punishment is, but you gone see it. Miles bridges did some wild stuff, and he didnt really overreact, because it didnt hurt the league. Ja hurt the league.

[drekwins]

This is the last post I'll make. This was Chris Kaman social media post while he was in the NBA in 2011. Was this an exemplary safety moment? Pointing the gun directly at the person holding the camera?

How would this be perceived if it was a young black man, in a video form with rap music playing and some of his black friends in the background? Chris Kaman posted a bunch of similar videos in all different settings.

Have a good one, boys and girls.

this is totally fine and way different. Hes at the store where you buy guns taking a picture with an unloaded firearm because the rule of those stores is not to point loaded weapons at people. Secondly, chris kaman wasnt a face of a franchise. Thirdly, hes not accused of shoving a gun in a 17 year olds face over a pickup game, sending goons to the mall because the store staff wasnt nice to his mom, and have an incident of bringing a gun on a team plane, and then waving a gun in a club where thats illegal.

He then lied about doing better, making the commish look like a dummy, and now i have to believe the above incidents were true because the guy is obviously a liar and this is just his character.

Why are we retroactively punishing him for the 17 year old incident? Why wasn't the hammer dropped then if it was so egregiously bad? I'm not saying it wasn't bad. But, why was it glossed over then? I have said that he was wrong. I have said that it was idiotic. I am not defending his action. I'm saying that the consequences that people are suggesting are hypocritical, too much and more than the (non)crime.

12-16 games feels right to me. Everything else about being a "thug", his intentions, etc. is all speculation. He could have been in his driveway. It could have been all an act and a joke. Social media is not real life. It's production. It really is. It's not a resume. It's not a college transcript. It's not proof of anything. It's literally all smoke and mirrors. For anyone to take it serious is crazy to me.

Now, to use his "social media production" to post a video like that is ridiculous, reckless idiotic... but this incident does not suggest anything terrible... maybe, the other incidents do. My stance is that he should have been punished more severely for those

A lot also depends on the personal conversation that Silver had with Ja, which we're not privy to.

I really wish someone would make a "really bad" looking video without context and post it. Then, watch everyone jump to conclusions. Then, when everyone starts going crazy, they release a video showing how it was all a set up... and how quickly people assumed someone was a thug, had a loaded gun, etc. We don't even know if the gun was real or loaded!!! I don't know why people are so comfortable assuming every single thing as fact. And, if that's what the public does, shame on them. Society was never meant to be that way - hence, "innocent until proven guilty".

I do think he needs guidance, mentorship and to make better decisions. But, I don't get why he is being made out to be worse than people in the NBA who have fired guns in public, badly beat women, got caught going over 100mph, etc. He's 23. I hate this assumptive and cancel culture we have created. I truly think it was inappropriate for Silver to even say that he "assumes the worst." Don't assume anything. Let the facts and evidence reveal all.

[drekwins]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

[Woodsanity]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

Its a very different world now. I never heard of most of the stuff you said. AI would not have gotten away with that stuff today.

[Nate505]

People in useless states of America should understand that nba is a global game now.

Yeah, I'll take that more seriously when there are NBA franchises in more than two countries, with the one franchise in the other country literally being less than 100 miles form the US border.

[drekwins]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

Its a very different world now. I never heard of most of the stuff you said. AI would not have gotten away with that stuff today.

"Woke", cancel culture... that is the difference! Iverson was a highly marketed asset and a face of the league. How about Patrick Ewing and all those other guys with the Atlanta strip club incident?

Enough with cancelling people. There is a better way to deal with this than to irreparably damage someones life forever over this BS. Give the kid a chance to at least earn it all back. This immediate outrage is such a new phenomenon. It's so sickening compared to some of the real injustices of the world. And if all it takes is for someone to point the finger or minor mistakes, we will all eventually get caught in it.

[Ayt]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

It is almost as if time passes and things change.

[drekwins]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

It is almost as if time passes and things change.

Then, stop celebrating AI, Larry Bird, etc. and call them the piece of "sh*ts" they are too. Be consistent. Then, people will realize that they're all vulnerable to this never ending changing of the goal post.

But no, hammer the 23 year old kid who hasn't done anything actually illegal wrong, call him a thug based off of the music he listens to, not knowing any context as-to where he was at the tame or any other details... just keep running with it. Kick him out of the league while you're at it... and at the same time, let piece of sh*t guys like Isiah Thomas broadcast games when he was known for being very homophobic and making homophobic slurs. Let these guys be in front offices and all make money off the game... but yeah, kick Ja out. That's real noble of everyone.

It's a mob mentality and it has to stop. It's ridiculous and so many of you are hypocrites.

If you're going to purge Ja, purge them all. Then, I'm good with it.

[Ayt]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

It is almost as if time passes and things change.

Then, stop celebrating AI, Larry Bird, etc. and call them the piece of "sh*ts" they are too. Be consistent. Then, people will realize that they're all vulnerable to this never ending changing of the goal post.

Meh. That is literally how societies have always functioned.

[Pointgod]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

Iverson would be out of the league if he did this in our current era.

[drekwins]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

Iverson would be out of the league if he did this in our current era.

He is STILL celebrated though... No one has context. People are fickle. They forget. They're idiots and they're almost all judgmental. It's sickening and all selective outrage.

[Pointgod]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

Iverson would be out of the league if he did this in our current era.

He is STILL celebrated though... No one has context. People are fickle. They forget. They're idiots and they're almost all judgmental. It's sickening and all selective outrage.

Not sure if you watched Iverson but he was absolutely loathed during that time you reference. He’s celebrated NOW but he was called every name under the Sun for stupid **** like tattoos and cornrows. Ja Morant is rightly criticized for being a complete dumbass and ruining every chance and excuse made for him. Dude if you don’t think Iverson would be getting killed worse than Ja now, you didn’t pay close attention to his career.

[drekwins]

Iverson would be out of the league if he did this in our current era.

He is STILL celebrated though... No one has context. People are fickle. They forget. They're idiots and they're almost all judgmental. It's sickening and all selective outrage.

Not sure if you watched Iverson but he was absolutely loathed during that time you reference. He’s celebrated NOW but he was called every name under the Sun for stupid **** like tattoos and cornrows. Ja Morant is rightly criticized for being a complete dumbass and ruining every chance and excuse made for him. Dude if you don’t think Iverson would be getting killed worse than Ja now, you didn’t pay close attention to his career.

Iverson did not lose his signature shoe deals and all of his contract money.

[king_james_vers]

Iverson once had a 15 year prison sentence (10 years suspended) for a felony... he was pardoned out of it after 4 months. Then, after his rookie season (1997), Iverson was 22 when he was stopped for going 93 in a 65. They found drugs and a loaded gun. He was arrested. During his rookie season, he also fought Jerry Stackhouse, his own teammate.

At that time, he had a $50 million deal with Reebok and they assigned a full-time manager to help him. They didn't just cancel the deal.

In 2002, after his MVP season, Iverson was charged with 3 felonies - Trespassing, gun counts and criminal conspiracy. He has an unlicensed firearm on him, broke into an apartment and threatened two men. An arrest warrant was issued.

There were countless other domestic disputes and other incidents as well.. He even threatened to pay someone $5,000 to kill his wife while in a fight with her.

His deals were never threatened. He was never made out to be this animal. He wasn't hammered... yet it's all far, far, far, far worse than Morant. I don't understand why AI is celebrated, even today (which he is), and Morant is a monster. It makes no logical sense... other than the fact that people have zero historical context, precedent and are prisoners of the moment.

Its a very different world now. I never heard of most of the stuff you said. AI would not have gotten away with that stuff today.

"Woke", cancel culture... that is the difference! Iverson was a highly marketed asset and a face of the league. How about Patrick Ewing and all those other guys with the Atlanta strip club incident?

Enough with cancelling people. There is a better way to deal with this than to irreparably damage someones life forever over this BS. Give the kid a chance to at least earn it all back. This immediate outrage is such a new phenomenon. It's so sickening compared to some of the real injustices of the world. And if all it takes is for someone to point the finger or minor mistakes, we will all eventually get caught in it.

This is not a case of cancel culture. There is no overreaction here. He has glorified gun and gangster culture. Stunningly, after getting a second chance, he has done it AGAIN.

Cancel culture - which I agree is wildly out of control - does not apply here whatsoever. His punishments have also been in line with what he did. It's not like he's going to be excommunicated from the league.

[drekwins]

Iverson would be out of the league if he did this in our current era.

He is STILL celebrated though... No one has context. People are fickle. They forget. They're idiots and they're almost all judgmental. It's sickening and all selective outrage.

Not sure if you watched Iverson but he was absolutely loathed during that time you reference. He’s celebrated NOW but he was called every name under the Sun for stupid **** like tattoos and cornrows. Ja Morant is rightly criticized for being a complete dumbass and ruining every chance and excuse made for him. Dude if you don’t think Iverson would be getting killed worse than Ja now, you didn’t pay close attention to his career.

And why is he celebrated now? If we view those incidents as so bad and even worse today, shouldn't we say.... wow, AI was a really big POS and a symbol of everything the league doesn't want to be? He shouldn't be anywhere near a camera, mic or pro basketball court now. No one should honor him either. If they do, they're condoning it... It's all hypocrisy. That's what my point is... and Ja is getting **** while many got a pass for much worse things. Accept the fact that he's a human. Instead, they're trying to marginalize him to make people care less and de-humanize him ("he's a thug). The whole narrative is BS. Real noble of everyone. Real impressive.

[Lockdown504090]

This is the last post I'll make. This was Chris Kaman social media post while he was in the NBA in 2011. Was this an exemplary safety moment? Pointing the gun directly at the person holding the camera?

How would this be perceived if it was a young black man, in a video form with rap music playing and some of his black friends in the background? Chris Kaman posted a bunch of similar videos in all different settings.

Have a good one, boys and girls.

this is totally fine and way different. Hes at the store where you buy guns taking a picture with an unloaded firearm because the rule of those stores is not to point loaded weapons at people. Secondly, chris kaman wasnt a face of a franchise. Thirdly, hes not accused of shoving a gun in a 17 year olds face over a pickup game, sending goons to the mall because the store staff wasnt nice to his mom, and have an incident of bringing a gun on a team plane, and then waving a gun in a club where thats illegal.

He then lied about doing better, making the commish look like a dummy, and now i have to believe the above incidents were true because the guy is obviously a liar and this is just his character.

Why are we retroactively punishing him for the 17 year old incident? Why wasn't the hammer dropped then if it was so egregiously bad? I'm not saying it wasn't bad. But, why was it glossed over then? I have said that he was wrong. I have said that it was idiotic. I am not defending his action. I'm saying that the consequences that people are suggesting are hypocritical, too much and more than the (non)crime.

12-16 games feels right to me. Everything else about being a "thug", his intentions, etc. is all speculation. He could have been in his driveway. It could have been all an act and a joke. Social media is not real life. It's production. It really is. It's not a resume. It's not a college transcript. It's not proof of anything. It's literally all smoke and mirrors. For anyone to take it serious is crazy to me.

Now, to use his "social media production" to post a video like that is ridiculous, reckless idiotic... but this incident does not suggest anything terrible... maybe, the other incidents do. My stance is that he should have been punished more severely for those

A lot also depends on the personal conversation that Silver had with Ja, which we're not privy to.

I really wish someone would make a "really bad" looking video without context and post it. Then, watch everyone jump to conclusions. Then, when everyone starts going crazy, they release a video showing how it was all a set up... and how quickly people assumed someone was a thug, had a loaded gun, etc. We don't even know if the gun was real or loaded!!! I don't know why people are so comfortable assuming every single thing as fact. And, if that's what the public does, shame on them. Society was never meant to be that way - hence, "innocent until proven guilty".

I do think he needs guidance, mentorship and to make better decisions. But, I don't get why he is being made out to be worse than people in the NBA who have fired guns in public, badly beat women, got caught going over 100mph, etc. He's 23. I hate this assumptive and cancel culture we have created. I truly think it was inappropriate for Silver to even say that he "assumes the worst." Don't assume anything. Let the facts and evidence reveal all.

You seem to think the issue is about guilt or innocence, nobody cares whether it was right or fair to use prior things against him. His job to rep the nba. I can’t get angry in front of my kids and have them see me blow up at someone in the grocery store even if I’m in the right. It’s my job to show them better and represent. The nba can’t use him in promo now, Nike can’t, nba cares can’t have him in anything, because he’s unable to make good decisions. Evidence isn’t important because it’s about the league, it’s not a court room.

As to why he’s being made out so badly as a guy, it’s because he keeps doing it, lying, and not learning. Bridges hasn’t done anything else wrong, has faced consequences. Nobody else has had an apology tour and then done more stupid stuff so quickly. This would be like if draymond finished the job on poole on Christmas after the training camp punch. Do you see the difference? When they go into tv deal negotiations this matters.

[payton2kemp]

He is STILL celebrated though... No one has context. People are fickle. They forget. They're idiots and they're almost all judgmental. It's sickening and all selective outrage.

Not sure if you watched Iverson but he was absolutely loathed during that time you reference. He’s celebrated NOW but he was called every name under the Sun for stupid **** like tattoos and cornrows. Ja Morant is rightly criticized for being a complete dumbass and ruining every chance and excuse made for him. Dude if you don’t think Iverson would be getting killed worse than Ja now, you didn’t pay close attention to his career.

Iverson did not lose his signature shoe deals and all of his contract money.

I'm not sure how this is even worse than what Draymond did to Poole, punching another man right in his head and dropping him to the ground where he could've actually got seriously injured. If that happened on the street instead of the gym it would be an actual crime.

Morant did something stupid but he didn't hurt anyone. Just waved a gun in the air while dancing is not worse than physically harming another person in the head and maybe giving them a concusison or more serious injury.

[picc]

Ja and his crew have a long history of dumb **** involving guns or the threat of guns. Public incidences that create a pattern and paint him (them) as unsavory characters at best, who are associated with a league that wants nothing to do with that. It's not just "oh he and his friends were having fun in a car". They have documented history of their "fun" being dangerous and/or threatening.

I think Ja needs help that he won't get from the NBA or playing in it. I'm not sure what that is, but I do know it won't be gotten while he's dunking over 7 ft centers. Not to say kick him out of the league, far from it. I want him to be able to play and make his bread. But I'm looking at the totality of the last couple years and what he's gotten into, not just a single IG live.

He, his crew and family have serious issues with their casualness about violence or the threat of violence. Nobody gives a **** if you're just a roughneck on the streets of Memphis, but if you're going to be associated with a brand like the NBA, there have to be serious consequences not just to deter you, but to possibly motivate you to change the circumstances you live in that could possibly be dangerous to YOU too.

[drekwins]

Ja and his crew have a long history of dumb **** involving guns or the threat of guns. Public incidences that create a pattern and paint him (them) as unsavory characters at best, who are associated with a league that wants nothing to do with that. It's not just "oh he and his friends were having fun in a car". They have documented history of their "fun" being dangerous and/or threatening.

I think Ja needs help that he won't get from the NBA or playing in it. I'm not sure what that is, but I do know it won't be gotten while he's dunking over 7 ft centers. Not to say kick him out of the league, far from it. I want him to be able to play and make his bread. But I'm looking at the totality of the last couple years and what he's gotten into, not just a single IG live.

He, his crew and family have serious issues with their casualness about violence or the threat of violence. Nobody gives a **** if you're just a roughneck on the streets of Memphis, but if you're going to be associated with a brand like the NBA, there have to be serious consequences not just to deter you, but to possibly motivate you to change the circumstances you live in that could possibly be dangerous to YOU too.

I think a lot of guys could probably use mentorship and that's cool. But, to make this particular incident out to be so bad is not doing anyone any favors. JKidd beat his effing wife BAD. He's now leading men and has been the coach of several franchises. If the coaches and front office personnel are all POS too, maybe the NBA has a deeper character problem? Maybe, they're the issue? Maybe, they're just not suitable mentors to lead young men?

Yet, despite who JKidd has proven that he is, he will be referred to as "the great JKidd". "Underrated". All these effing guys in their ivory towers. It's absolute BS.

Everyones like, "oh it was a different era". You know where the guys from that era are? They're all in the front offices. They're GMs, head coaches, scouts, advisors and in the media. They're getting paid off the game still. They're still POS too. For everyone to point the finger at Ja instead of saying "wait a minute. this guy is not a monster. lets figure this out. lets try to get him set up for success. lets come together. don't cancel his all-nba Supermax. don't cancel his sponsorships."

Instead, everyone wants to kick a guy when he's down when they have skeletons of their own. That's why the "thug" rhetoric disgusts me. It's meant to de-humanize and ostracize him. "He's not one of us. He's a thug. He's a gangster." We do not know that. He is a human being and many of them have done worse than he has ever done.

In my eyes, the NBA has taken the position that as long as its out of the spotlight and hush hush.. then, it's allll good. And for some, eventually, the public will forget and if that happens, then they're cool too. Once again, real genuine. Real upstanding. Real impressive. Really great principles. It's all bullish*t.

[drekwins]

Imagine working for a boss or several bosses that beat their wives, were arrested, had drug charges, publicly expressed homophobic slurs, committed statutory rape, assault, DWIs, battery, abandoned their kids, etc., and then they're telling you that you went too far and are now going to lose tens of millions and sponsorships over an IG Live video where no one got hurt or were even threatened.

And not only that, but they idolize and speak highly of other people that did the same (JKidd, AI, Larry Bird, etc.)...

There's a lot wrong with all of that.