After Ja Morant’s second gun incident in a matter of months, some NBA fans are saying he should even serve jail time but Draymond Green has called these fans out.
“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.”
Footage that emerged on Devonte Pack’s Instagram live on the weekend that showed Morant in a car and he flashed a gun.
He is definitely in breach of his NBA contract and despite Green standing up for Ja, he still believes what Morant did was uncalled for.
“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 and has a huge following on social media, many of them are kids looking to him as a role model.
He broke his silence on Tuesday evening and released 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.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke on the incident on Tuesday before Morant’s statement and told ESPN: “Honestly, I was shocked when I saw this weekend that video…. I’m assuming the worst.”
Silver also confirmed that the league are investigating the incident and by all reports Morant will be handed down a lengthy ban.