Stephen A. Smith: “NBA Community Is Concerned whether or not Ja Morant is gonna be alive in five years.”

Some people in the league are more concerned about matters much more important than when Ja Morant will return to the floor while the NBA community waits for the resolution of the Ja Morant probe.

Stephen A. Smith: “NBA Community Is Concerned whether or not Ja Morant is gonna be alive in five years.”

This week, the situation involving Grizzlies player Ja Morant has continued to dominate conversations in the NBA.

Morant is now awaiting news on a second firearm-related suspension after he reportedly flashed a handgun during an Instagram Live video in May. Morant was previously suspended by the NBA for 8 games for flashing a weapon at a bar in the Denver area in March.

Following the end of the NBA Finals, according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, the league will announce the suspension of Morant, which may be at least for the first half of the upcoming season.

“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant said in a statement after the video went viral. “This is a journey, and I recognize there is more work to do,” he said in his only public comments since the latest firearm incident.

“My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself.”

Morant shared on social media—and then removed—messages and images with the phrases “Love ya ma [blue heart emoji], Love ya pops [blue heart emoji], and You da greatest baby girl [blue heart emoji] love ya.” The next post he made was simply captioned “Bye.”

Ja Morant, a star for the Memphis Grizzlies, posted strange words on his Instagram story account on Wednesday, prompting police in Tennessee to inquire about his wellbeing. However, they later told TMZ that he is simply “taking a break from social media.”

According to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, officers visited Morant’s residence to see how he was doing.

The sheriff’s office official assured TMZ that “he is fine.”

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith remarked last week during an interview on “The Rich Eisen Show” that there are legitimate worries for not only Morant’s basketball future but also his life in the NBA.

“In terms of Ja Morant’s behavior off the court, some of the things he finds himself engaged in, with the company that he keeps, with the establishments that he visits, things of that nature. Obviously, he feels compelled, pretty much all the time, to have a gun around him,” Smith told Eisen.

“A lot of players I know are from the streets, period. And I can tell you that people within the NBA community are not just concerned about Ja Morant playing basketball. They’re concerned about whether or not he’s gonna be alive in five years.”

 

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