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It’s been a fairly rocky year for Ja Morant, who found himself at the center of multiple controversies before things reached a tipping point when he was suspended for eight games (and lost a fortune in the process) after flashing a gun on Instagram Live.
While the Grizzlies guard promised he’d learned his lesson after returning, it didn’t take long for him to prove that was not, in fact, the case when he did the exact same thing in the middle of May to essentially ensure he wouldn’t be suiting up for Memphis at the start of the 2023 season.
NBA insiders spent a month speculating about the exact amount of time Morant might be forced to miss, with some people even floating the idea Adam Silver could decide to suspend him for the entire season in an attempt to drive the point home.
As a result, it was pretty hard not to describe the 25-game suspension Morant officially received on Friday as “lenient” when you consider the build-up to the announcement that left plenty of fans wondering why it wasn’t longer.
However, there’s at least one group that views things differently: the National Basketball Players Association.
When you consider the NBA players union exists to protect the interest of the athletes it represents, it shouldn’t necessarily come as a huge shock it would be in Morant’s corner.
However, it seems like NBPA Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio failed to read the room before issuing a statement where she described the suspension as “excessive and inappropriate.”
NBPA Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio's statement on the suspension of Ja Morant.https://t.co/Qg6CT1A90a pic.twitter.com/JBpvGy0m7A
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) June 16, 2023
It didn’t take long for NBA fans to respond to those claims with a dose of what I would describe as “objective reality,” as the statement was rebuked by plenty of people who advised the NBPA to sit this one out.
Normally I’m with them but NBAPA should pick their battles with this one. 25 games for repeat offenses with a gun is not a bad suspension length. He expressed his remorse once and then did it a month later. That argument holds no weight.
— ACAP Rocky (@Acap23) June 16, 2023
No NBPA…. It should have been more. Let it ride. https://t.co/uvbM1w2drK
— Brian Howard (@CoachBHoward) June 16, 2023
It’s as if actions have consequences
— Randy Dumalig (@RanDumProd) June 16, 2023
Should’ve been more but go off @tamikaNBPA
— freddy (@FredColdY) June 16, 2023
Again, it’s hard to fault Tremaglio and the union for doing their job, but based on the statement Morant issued, he’d probably be one of the first people to tell them to call off the dogs.