Is the Ja Morant episode really over in Memphis? After months where he multiplied the slippages, until this ultimate provocation with a firearm in a nightclub which was finally the last straw, the All-Star entered a “redemption mission”, ensuring that he wanted to restore his image, much tarnished by recent events.
It remains to be seen if the leader of the Grizzlies will simply better manage his communication, or if this is a real fundamental change, especially at the level of his entourage.
The police visibly in embarrassment
Because in a new very thorough investigation, the washington post returns on the multiple incidents that have involved Ja Morant and his relatives in recent months. Incidents that have remained under the radar for a surprisingly long time, given the notoriety of the ringleader, arguably the most famous person in Memphis today.
It is that the Washington Post evokes a police of Memphis curiously very discreet and cautious. Thus, when two police officers come to see the injuries of Joshua Holloway, a 17-year-old teenager who explains that he was hit by two men during a basketball game, and they realize that Ja Morant is involved, they call their hierarchy to know what to do. At first, they are told to follow the classic procedure, and to go and question the basketball player and his friend… except that they will not do it, and that the point guard of the Grizzlies will not be questioned about this story for six weeks. later, when Ja Morant comes to file a complaint in turn against the teenager, who would have threatened to “set the neighborhood on fire”.
Similar scenario when Ja Morant’s mother gets mad at a shoe store clerk for serving two white customers before her, and he doesn’t have the Nike model she wants for her. size.
His son and several friends then arrive in the store in search of the seller, forced to hide in the back room, when Ja Morant explains that he will wait for him to come out. The leader and his friends will then have an altercation with the head of security of the shopping center, who claims to have been threatened by a relative of the basketball player, and beaten. He will file a complaint, but no arrest will take place in this case either.
The NBA and the Grizzlies in the know
These two episodes take place at the end of July. At the end of September, it is Ja Morant’s sister who argues during a volleyball match at her high school. Again, the leader and his group of friends disembark in search of the person involved. Threats are made against teenagers present, a relative of Ja Morant hitting the phone of one of those who were filming the scene. This time, the Memphis police give way to a member of the Grizzlies organization, called on the spot to smooth over the situation.
Events to which is added that of January, when the Pacers had also been threatened by relatives of Ja Morant, a red laser pointing their bus and having scared everyone.
More than the behavior of Ja Morant and his entourage, the Washington Post investigation questions above all what the police, the NBA and the Grizzlies knew of these multiple slippages. The local police thus seemed to drown out the case, taking particular care not to include the name of Ja Morant’s mother, nor that of her son, in the investigation reports, where Jamie Morant was named “Suspect #1 unknown”. . So as not to alert the press?
The intervention of Kevin Helms, the Grizzlies’ chief of security, during the altercation involving the sister of Ja Morant, also shows that the franchise was aware of the situation for many months. As for the NBA, it was bound to have feedback since Brian Windhorst, of ESPN, explains that he was made aware of the fight with Joshua Holloway, who is a known prospect in Memphis, the next day, by a Hall of Famer.
