There have been a few occasions on which I have written about Ja Morant. Unfortunately, some of those pieces were about his lack of maturity in certain instances. Morant has stayed out of trouble in recent months. In fact, his absences on the court lately are tied to being injured. But, in a recent turn of events, NBA player-turned-ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins shared his thoughts on Morant’s early career missteps. Morant responded in a fashion in which I believe he missed the forest for the trees.
Is Perk swagger jacking?
The way that Morant sees things is that Perkins is taking credit for his success. As far as I’m concerned, Perkins is just stating that Morant never took into account how his own conduct could blow back on those who looked out for him. It’s bigger than just his team or his loved ones. So, of course, the NBA champion Celtic has been getting backlash from some online about his criticism. But to me, Perk is just being solid.
Healing takes time
How the Grizzlies’ All-Star responded tells me all that I need to know about him in this season of his life. It’s clear that Morant has some more growing to do. I came to the conclusion that he is still very much on guard about his past transgressions. Within that, he’d like to move on with a clean slate.
However, with Perk’s comments, I’d imagine that this just drummed up some past shame and annoyance of what already was. One may think how could I deduce that from his tweet, “you da reason for me notoriety perk? come on dawg.” He’s missing the larger point. I’d imagine because all players understand that without their abilities, there simply isn’t an NBA. But it isn’t easy shedding light on small-market teams. The media is so imperative to showcasing how those markets get viewed. Perk saw the value in that because of Morant’s ability.
The future is still bright
I would imagine that one day both of these men will be able to peace it up. To me, this is nothing more than a conversation that’s needed to bring clarity. It’ll happen if both parties desire for it to happen. When it comes to the criticism that Perk gave, I’m all for it. We can’t always seek to hush the truth. We need to hear more truth. What he said wasn’t said with any disdain. He didn’t appreciate Morant not considering all those who did their part to help make him a bigger star.
A little humility goes a long way. The future Grizzlies legend may one day admit that he overreacted in this instance. Once Morant has furthered himself from his past, it’s just a matter of time until he’ll be comfortable recognizing that he has been a bit sensitive. In fact, he may appreciate someone like Perk telling him what he needed to hear more so than the contrary. If Morant can get to that point during his playing career, it won’t only be beneficial to life off the court, but life on it as well.