Stephen A Smith expected more from Ja Morant at a return press conference last week as the Memphis Grizzlies star returns from a 25-game suspension on Tuesday night.
Morant was pretty lax speaking with reporters in his first public media availability since last postseason. Smith took issue with Morant’s attitude in the press conference and wondered whether Morant truly understood the gravity of his situation — and his state of mind during the mistakes that got him here.
Morant was caught multiple times during the NBA season in compromising situations. Photos showed him at a strip club outside Denver with a firearm. Twice, he could be seen live on Instagram drinking heavily or brandishing weapons. After a willful break from the team midseason, the league suspended him for 25 games in June.
“Ja Morant broke no laws,” Smith began on his podcast Sunday. “Here’s where the issue lies, and I was shocked that nobody asked this question to begin with. How was this stuff ever on Instagram Live to begin with?”
Smith, who is no stranger to what goes on behind the scenes in the NBA, then questioned why Morant allowed the videos to air considering the stakes.
“What was going on? What was in your state of mind that you allowed it?” Smith asked. “What could it have been? Were you not lucid enough, were you not alert enough, were you compromised? We’ve got to ask these questions.”
Smith believes Morant’s psychological faculty is “at the heart” of this saga.
“It’s not stupidity, because he ain’t stupid,” Smith explained. “What’s going on? Nobody asked him. Were you drinking? Did you have your full faculties in order?”
Still, Morant being so blasé about his mistakes makes Smith think he doesn’t take it seriously enough. And not taking it seriously makes Smith believe something deeper may be wrong with Morant.
“When we talk about cleaning stuff up, all of it’s got to be cleaned up,” Smith said. “It’s about simply having a sitdown like, ‘yo this is what we need.’ And it’s about Ja Morant saying to the public, ‘I know I have to do better, but this is what was going on, my bad.'”
To Smith, Morant’s words “didn’t tell us anything.” So Smith returned to Morant’s behavior and thought processes.
“If it were me at that press conference, I’m not saying Ja Morant does because I don’t know anything about that, and dammit even if I did unless it was reported, I wouldn’t tell y’all,” Smith said. “But if I had a drinking problem, I would say so.”
Smith also explained it could be family conflict, considering Morant’s parents were involved in several of his mistakes.
Regardless, Smith doesn’t believe Morant gave the Memphis community or NBA fans enough to understand him or trust him.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.