After a season full of controversy for the Memphis Grizzlies, their playoff run came to an abrupt and screeching halt on Friday night with a 125-85 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers that eliminated them from the NBA postseason.
Center of most of those controversial moments was Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant, who seemed to acknowledge that his off-court issues had a negative affect on the team and the way they played.
‘I’ve just got to be better with my decision-making,’ said Morant, who finished the night with only 10 points on and appalling 3-of-16 shooting line in the blowout loss.
‘That’s pretty much it. Off-the-court issues affected us as an organization pretty much. Just [need] more discipline.’
It’s been a season to forget for Memphis – who finished with the second best record in the Western Conference but couldn’t stop LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and company on the play-in team.
Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies were sent home with an embarrassing 125-85 loss
Morant and teammate Dillon Brooks combined for 20 points in the defeat to the LA Lakers
Before the season even began, Morant was facing legal trouble stemming from two separate incidents in Memphis.
In the summer, Morant allegedly threatened a mall security guard after the star’s mother got in a dispute with an employee at a shoe store. According to the police report, he arrived with a group of ‘as many as nine people’ and then as the group was escorted out, Morant yelled back, ‘let me know what time he gets off’.
Then, the star guard was sued by a teenager after an altercation following a pickup game that allegedly occurred at Morant’s mansion in the Memphis suburbs.
Morant has since countersued the teen, saying that he lied to police and that the teen ‘intentionally’ tried to hurt him.
Once the season began, Morant remained a lightning rod for controversy and there didn’t seem to be any changing his behavior.
First, there was an on-court confrontation between Morant and Fox Sports analyst Shannon Sharpe in mid-January. Sharpe was yelling at Morant and his Grizzlies teammates Dillon Brooks and Steven Adams that led to a scuffle but no punches thrown.
In addition, according to The Athletic, Morant was riding with his friend Davonte Pack and one other person in an SUV when a red laser was pointed at the bus of the visiting Indiana Pacers that same month.
Two people who spoke to the publication anonymously said they believed the laser was attached to a gun, while an Indiana security guard nearby claimed ‘that’s 100 percent a gun.’ However, it was not confirmed if the laser was attached to a weapon.
Earlier this season, Morant & the Grizzlies had an on-court confrontation with Shannon Sharpe
The league opened an investigation into the allegation but concluded that it ‘did not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon,’ an NBA spokesperson said.
Recently, there was the incident at a Colorado nightclub where Morant allegedly flashed a gun on an Instagram Live video.
In a statement the NBA said that the league found that Morant had not brought a gun into any NBA facilities or on the team plane with him, it still suspended him for eight games. Morant was also not charged with any crime by police in Colorado.
Morant went to a counseling program in Florida under his own cognition after being suspended by the team.
He returned to the team just in time for the postseason, but failed to stay consistent.
Morant put up an astonishing 45 point, 13 assist scoreline in Game 3’s 111-101 loss and starred once again in Game 5 with a 31 point, 10 rebound outburst en route to a 116-99 victory.
But it all led up to last night and the most lopsided postseason loss in the Grizzlies’ franchise history.
Recently, Morant appeared to hold up a gun to his head at a nightclub in Colorado on March 4
After the game had finished, Morant said that he will be taking time to reflect and learn from the season while addressing the issues that plagued him.
‘I feel like mine is more off the court and on the court — just being disciplined both sides,’ Morant said. ‘Off the court, making better decisions. On the court, being locked in even more.
‘Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. So however I attack any situation, I know my guys will follow. I’ve just got to be better in that area.’
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins refused to ‘use distractions or anything like that as an excuse’, but said that this heartbreak could be ‘pivotal’ in the future of the franchise for its young core of Morant, forward Jaren Jackson Jr. and guard Desmond Bane.
‘I think we have a great culture, and your culture’s going to get tested,’ Jenkins said. ‘I mean, there’s going to be opportunities that are going to see how strong you are, how together you are, how resilient you are, how disciplined you are.
Morant admitted that his off-court issues distracted the team & that he needs to work on them
‘And then are you really building something day in and day out to ultimately try to win a championship. It doesn’t happen overnight. Nothing is going to be a straight line.
‘In my opinion, this is probably that moment in time that’s going to be the ultimate wake-up call. Are we going to really understand that it’s the preparation and the offseason, the preparation in the season?
‘It’s what you do at work, off the court — clearly, there are things that we’ve got to control and just embrace it together. How are we going to support each other throughout all this stuff?
‘This is a journey that you go through from the start of the season to the end of the season, and it’s not supposed to be easy, any of it. So are we going to take it lightly and take it for granted or we going to take a real hard look at the mirror?’
