Jaren Jackson Jr. has seen Ja Morant flourish in the NBA but now Morant looks set to spend a lengthy amount of time on the sidelines and JJJ has since spoken out about his teammate’s situation.
Many are predicting the NBA will come down hard on the 23-year-old as it’s his second time he’s flashed a gun on an Instagram live in a matter on months.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league has made a decision on the sanctions Morant will face but won’t announce it until after the NBA Finals have concluded.
This year’s DPOY, Jackson Jr. gave some personal insight into the situation on Paul George’s podcast this week.
“I mean you’re always gonna make mistakes growing up and people gotta understand like, you’re growing up, and you’re the most popular player at this age probably ever,” Jackson said on Podcast P with Paul George. “A lot of things back then that you could get away with, you can’t do…but people always gotta understand that everybody’s human.
“That’s my brother, though. Like no matter what, like I stand by my brother and I think that’s like the lesson everybody should take away from this… Everybody’s gonna say whatever but they’re everybody, and it never matters at the end of the day. It’s your family, it’s your brother. That’s just how I am. It’s not like a code thing, that’s my dog, so I’m gonna ride with him. He’s gonna get right back to running the league like he does, he gonna get right back to jumping over everybody. He gonna get back to running it just like he does. He already knows that, you know, he works hard.”
Jackson was drafted to Memphis as the number four pick just a year before Morant and the two have to be credited for much of the Grizzlies’ success.
The pair combining on both ends of the floor can be unstoppable, so Jackson will surely be hoping Morant will be back on the court soon.