The Memphis Grizzlies have had a lot of bad press recently. Their star thinks the media is targeting them.
Morant was under fire after the NBA investigated a confrontation between members of Morant’s entourage and the Indiana Pacers, which included someone in Morant’s car pointing lasers – possibly gun sights – at Indiana’s team bus.
It’s not hard to pinpoint where the negative media attention comes from. Dillon Brooks lit up Donovan Mitchell’s groin with a punch last week. Ja’s father, Tee Morant, has taken shots at opposing players, and even left Shannon Sharpe seeing red after a dustup in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have played poorly amidst the chaos. After blasting to first place in December with seven-game and eleven-game win streaks, the Grizzlies scrappy attitude has backfired. They’ve lost eight of their last nine games. In that stretch, they have five players averaging under 32 percent from three-point range, while taking 3.4 attempts or more per game. It’s a real lack of shooting.
Earlier this week, Morant said he thought the media was overstating the caliber of the Grizzlies’ struggles.
Morant isn’t the first Grizzly to complain about unfair treatment. Brooks claimed officials were “picking on him”, though zeroing in on Mitchell’s groin won’t help his reputation. It’s a hollow argument after such a dirty play.
There’s an easy way for Morant and his teammates to get out of the media’s sights. First, stop starting fights every other game. Second, focus on winning games. Once that happens, Morant and the Grizzlies will be beaming.
