Source: David Berding / Getty
The
Memphis Grizzlies star sat with
Jalen Rose to talk about the incident and the poor decisions he’s made off the court as of late. He even spoke about the individuals around him that are also involved in those potentially violent situations.
“Honestly, I feel like we put ourselves in that situation with our past mistakes, and now it’s only right that we focus in and lock in on being smarter and more responsible, holding each other accountable for everything,” Morant said Wednesday of his entourage. “I feel like in the past, we didn’t know what was at stake. And now, finally, me having that time to realize everything, have that time alone, I realize that now.”
Rose pressed Morant about the specific gun-flashing incident in the strip and asked who the firearm belonged to.
“The gun wasn’t mine. It’s not who I am. I don’t condone any type of violence, but I take full responsibility for my actions. I’ve made a bad mistake,” Morant said. “I can see the image that I’ve painted over myself with my recent mistakes. In the future I’m gonna show everybody who Ja really is, what I’m about and change this narrative.”
The Instagram Live took place on March 3, hours after the Grizzlies lost to the
Denver Nuggets, meaning that the gun could have possibly been on the team plane. However, an investigation launched by the NBA and local Colorado police determined that it wasn’t, so he wasn’t charged with a crime. His only punishment was an eight-game suspension, mainly comprised of games he had already missed while at a counseling program in Florida to “get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”
See the entire interview between Ja Morant and Jalen Rose above, and see how Twitter’s reacting below.
