After Ja Morant’s second gun incident in a matter of months, a bunch of people took to social media and stated that the Memphis Grizzlies superstar should serve some jail time.
Draymond Green is now speaking out on it since he has so much time on his hands with the Golden State Warriors being eliminated from the playoffs.
The Warriors forward talked about why Morant has to be on Instagram Live so much.
“I just don’t understand why they’re on Instagram Live so much,” Green questioned while scratching his head on The Draymond Green Show.
“I just don’t get it. By the way, once you were in trouble the first time on Instagram Live, you guys probably should stay away from Instagram Live,” he said. “It hasn’t proven to be beneficial – at all.”
He then dove into people calling for him to be arrested and referring to him as a thug.
“I don’t condone what Ja has done, but what I will say is I saw a couple of people screaming, like, ‘Lock him up. Lock him up,” Green said on his podcast. “It’s actually not illegal to have a gun a lot of places in America. So to just start screaming, ‘Lock him up,’ you all actually don’t know if he broke a law. You don’t know if he had a license. You don’t know if the gun was licensed for him. … So the whole, ‘Lock him up, he’s a thug’ stuff, let’s stop.”
Over the weekend, an Instagram Live popped up that showed Morant in a car and he flashed a gun. His friend tried to save him by moving the phone, but the damage was already done.
“Was he wrong? Absolutely,” Green continued. “Everyone’s saying it’s irresponsible. Of course, it’s irresponsible. You have a following, and you’re trying to build a business. … Stop it, or don’t build a business.”
Morant is one of the league’s brightest young stars, with a massive social media following, many of whom are children looking to him as a role model.
On Tuesday evening, he broke his quiet and issued a statement through his representative.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant said. “This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do.”
“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 was originally caught with a gun in his possession on Instagram Live in March while at a nightclub in Colorado, and the incident is expected to cost him $39 million in his impending Grizzlies deal.
Prior to the first incident, Nike had just signed Morant to a major footwear contract worth at least $12 million.
The NBA has yet to decide on a punishment and has plenty of time to do so, given the Grizzlies were ousted from the playoffs in the first round by the Lakers.
