Source: Justin Ford / Getty / Ja Morant / Shannon Sharpe
Shannon Sharpe has some advice for Memphis Grizzlies’ superstar Ja Morant after his entourage got into a bit of alleged trouble.
Allegedly, some of Ja Morant’s boys “aggressively confronted” some Indiana Pacers staff following a Grizzlies win on January 29.
Sharpe spoke on the alleged altercation on a Monday episode of Undisputed with his co-host Skip Bayless. “Ja is an outstanding basketball player,” Sharpe begins. “Ja did everything he could to lift himself and his family out of this type of environment and to get away from this, and for some reason, he wants to surround himself with these type of people. Why? Bruh, you not hard. That’s not your life. People in that life would give anything to be in your life.”
Before the altercation, tempers flared on the court, with Morant and Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard getting into a heated exchange during the third quarter. Morant reportedly said he “checked [Nembard’s] temperature” and that “he didn’t have a fever.”
Per The Athletic’s reporting, someone in Morant’s entourage inside an SUV pointed a red laser at the Indiana travel crew. They also claimed Morant was allegedly in the vehicle and that someone pointed a firearm at them from the SUV.
The Pacers’ staffers declined to file a report about the incident out of fear of retaliation, so the organization did it for them.
Following its own investigation, the NBA said it “could not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon.” But, a member of Morant’s crew was banned from FedEx Arena for a year.
Morant spoke about the situation in a tweet calling cap on the situation.
Shannon Sharpe Wants Ja Morant To Stop Pretending To Be Tough
Sharpe also touched on the tweet, adding, “Stop pretending… You’re not gonna do nothing,” he continued. “What you’re gonna do is get yourself in trouble — [and] put yourself and your family in harm’s way — when you don’t have to. Just play basketball.”
“You pretend like you’re hard, but you’re not, Ja,” he added. “You’re opening yourself up. You’re putting yourself in a position you don’t even need to be in. And for what? Street cred? Come on, bruh.”
Twitter chimed in on the situation, agreeing with Uncle Shannon, pointing out that Morant needs to focus on his play and stop trying to be Larry Hoover.
You can see the reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Justin Ford / Getty