MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With Ja Morant seemingly set to return to Memphis’ lineup on Wednesday night, HBO and ESPN sports commentator Bomani Jones joined the Locked On Grizzlies podcast to discuss Morant’s misdeeds, the fallout, and where the Grizzlies go from here.
Morant said he received counseling during his mandated eight-game NBA, and Memphis has reportedly adjusted its team policy to leave road cities immediately postgame when possible.
“If you don’t think that Morant can handle such a thing, then Morant probably shouldn’t be coming back,” Jones told Locked On Grizzlies host Joe Mullinax.
And with the playoffs coming up, Morant will be put through the ringer even more than he was in the lead-up to the fateful Instagram Live video he broadcast holding a gun.
“If the pressure that was put upon you prior to now was too much, it’s about to be the NBA playoffs,” Jones said.
That will also make it hard to judge or evaluate Morant and the progress he is making with his mental health and whatever else caused him to take time away.
“I think that he has obviously made a series of bad decisions, and I’m reluctant to go to the ‘this is who he is’ part,” Jones said. “Does he have the infrastructure around him to improve in those ways? I don’t his squad well enough to answer that question. But it’s entirely possible he can get beyond what all of this is.”
Still, Morant’s appearances publicly since his suspension have raised more questions. In an interview with ESPN and a press conference with local reporters, Morant denied most of the allegations he is facing and was not very elaborative about his process to get right.
“From the interview with Jalen Rose, I did not come away from that feeling like someone got through to him,” Jones said. “I came away from that feeling like somebody gave him the things he needed to say to get back to playing basketball.”
As Morant gets back into the lineup, the Grizzlies will look to hold onto the No. 2 overall seed, and Morant will hope he plays well enough to make the All-NBA team and receive escalators in his upcoming new contract.
A team facing such a significant in-season problem will likely not be treated as serious threats for the NBA championship.
“Historically a team that’s got this much off-the-court stuff going on … they typically are hard for you to put your money on,” Jones said. “But if we were just talking about basketball, I can’t bet against anyone in the West because I can’t bet on anyone in the West.”