Shannon Sharpe blasts Ja Morant apologists: I’m mad. Shannon Sharpe did not feel outraged or startled by Ja Morant’s second incident, which involved displaying what appeared to be a pistol in an Instagram Live video that was viewed by millions of people early on Sunday morning.
After Morant was involved in his first gun incident in March, Grizzlies head coach Shannon Sharpe stated that actions, not words, will set the tone surrounding the star point guard for the Grizzlies. Therefore, when Sharpe was speaking on his morning debate show “Undisputed” on Monday morning, he focused on the supporters and other individuals surrounding Morant.
“I’m mad, upset, and disgusted by the people that defended (Morant),” Sharpe added. “Because that’s what brought us here in the first place.”
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Sharpe continued by describing the backlash he received in March for his critical comments regarding Morant’s performance. After the Grizzlies announced on March 4 that Morant would be taking time away from the team, some media experts, like Stephen A. Smith, were suspicious about how quickly Morant would return to the team. The NBA decided to suspend Morant for eight games, although he had already missed six of those games before the league made their decision public.
The most recent suspension handed down to Morant indirectly affected his prospects of being selected to an All-NBA team. Morant missed out on the opportunity to collect more than $39 million on the five-year contract deal he recently signed because he did not qualify for the bonus. The extension was recently inked.
Now, Sharpe believes that $39 million isn’t the only money Morant is likely to lose, and he is blaming others whom he feels aided Morant. Sharpe also blames people who he believes helped Morant.
Sharpe asked, “All of the people who said let Ja be Ja, are you all going to be the treasurer of that GoFundMe account? Because he just lost $39 million because he wasn’t on one of the three All-NBA teams,” Sharpe added. “Let Ja be Ja” is an acronym for “let Ja be himself.” It’s estimated that he will lose another $20–$30 million in sponsorship money soon.
“What about it when it comes to the NBA? Where do we stand with Nike? Where do we stand with the Powerade? Because he is on the verge of being released from his NBA contract, I am curious as to who will be serving as the treasurer of that GoFundMe campaign. He is on the verge of losing that sponsorship from Powerade.”
After the video was made public on Sunday, Morant was immediately removed from all Grizzlies team activities pending the outcome of an investigation being conducted by the NBA.
