When I saw the Instagram video in which Memphis Grizzlies point guard and NBA All-Star Ja Morant is seen bouncing up and down, smiling, flashing a gun and then smiling again, I was reminded of my dawgs from back home. “That’s how we do in South Carolina,” I remember one of my friends saying once. He then said of those of us from what’s called the “Corridor of Shame,” “We different, bruh-bruh.”
Morant grew up playing basketball in Dalzell, South Carolina, about 40 miles from where I grew up playing football in St. Matthews.
Morant, who grew up playing basketball in Dalzell, South Carolina, about 40 miles from where I grew up playing football in St. Matthews, was suspended by the Grizzlies for that Instagram post.
Morant posted himself smilingly displaying a weapon about a month after a Jan. 29 game in Memphis in which one of Morant’s friends argued with some Pacers players. The Athletic quoted two sources who said that, after that game, somebody in an SUV Morant was riding in aimed a red dot at some of the Pacers’ travel party near the team’s bus. A Pacers security guard told The Athletic he was sure the red dot came from a laser attached to a gun. The IndyStar and USA Today Sports quoted an NBA spokesman who said the league investigated but found no evidence anybody was threatened with a weapon.
After the Grizzlies suspended Morant for the IG video, he said in a statement that he takes “full responsibility” for his actions that night.
“I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down. I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being,” he wrote.
As an athlete-turned-preacher-turned-writer, I’m no doomsday prophet. I’m an eternal optimist who believes in particular that Black boys from South Carolina can do beautiful things. At the same time, I wish those…
Read the full article here
