I was just reading this new article from The Athletic, and this quote from Des jumped out at me. We all know that Ja hasn’t been happy for quite a long time now and there are tons of theories as to why that might be, but is not feeling valued what it all boils down to? And if that’s how he truly feels, why is that?
I know that Ja’s popularity on this sub is at its lowest, but one look around the Forum tells you how adored he still is in Memphis. He must feel undervalued by the organization, then. Perhaps he feels slighted because he hasn’t been offered an extension yet, or maybe he feels like his opinions aren’t being heard.
What do you guys think?
17 comments
The team and the city has gone to bat for him over and over. It’s his problem at this point.
Ja is not a victim. The organization deserves a share of the blame for this failed relationship, but for Ja to act like he has been scorned is disingenuous.
Good thing Ja is so skinny that Bane can wrap his arms around him.
(Sorry, I never made “short arm” jokes about Des when he was here, so I had to get one in now)
He was given super star status, a roster to cover up his weaknesses, a big contract, a long leash with a players coach, and free reign to play however he wanted to before had to win all that much.
I am sure to him anything less than that is not being valued. Accountability looks like unnecessary hate. Team pivoting to just win games he is not there seems like he is being doubted or disrespected. Getting rid of players to stay under the tax since the team wasn’t going to win everything as is seems like being isolated. Not being able to have any coach fired and being immediately backed up by the front office when he quits or tries to be difficult to force their hand as them not valuing the fame he brings to the Grizzlies.
He is an emotional guy who takes things personal, is surrounded by people who treat him like a folk hero, and at this point may not even know how to deal with insecurities in general when he is not in the spotlight.
People who are rich enough for long enough feel “poor” at amounts money we could live off of for the rest of our lives. After a certain amount of privelage, praise, fame, and blind support from others, a person can easily see any diminishing of that as not being loved. People were moved before him, a coach was fired then a new one hired for him, they kept him until he pushed his value down the tank, people were brought in the hopes of mentoring him, and the roster kept trying to do well without him under the hope he could plug into that with him at the helm. The Front Office valued Ja and spent years of several nonseasons betting on Ja bouncing back. The city has backed up Ja despite him quitting on and off for three years and having a ton of issues that affects the city’s reputation. The city values Ja way more than he has valued the city.
If he feels unwanted, its because he has had everything given to him too easily too early in his life and career. And to be honest, that’s more sad than anything else.
Haven’t we as fans and the organization shown exactly this? What am I missing here.
Ja has made reference to not getting the same whistle as everyone else. He’s basically chosen to stop dunking to punish the league cos he thinks he is not protected and undervalued with what he brings to be NBA.
After his suspensions he’s had to have meetings with the NBA where they sit around and talk about his issues (Draymond talked about it on his pod cos he went through the same thing). I don’t imagine that kind of micromanaging will go down well, cos I don’t imagine he believes he did anything wrong
If you see him on media day he is sullen with the national press and happy and upbeat with local press.
I think he feels undervalued by the NBA and Adam silver
I think his fallout with Iisalo is real though, I think calling out your star player in the locker room is not something he’s used to but is entirely TI’s style and it sounds like the team sided with the coach and did what they were told and didn’t side with Ja.
So I think the whole thing is a mess. I think he’s wrong and he’s sullen and could fix things, but I don’t think he will
He had everything given to him and still dropped the ball.
Is that Jaren or GG Jackson? Just wondering what he means by it’s a business and it sucks. As far as I can tell, Ja could have weathered this Iisalo thing if that’s the real problem he has. Vernon yesterday was saying he’s seen 11 coaches here since he’s been covering the grizz. That part will work itself out. Ja is not the victim. Now who’s been holding him out? Is it Ja or is it the FO preserving him for a trade?
Lisalo was a terrible hire, I don’t think we’re in this place if we hadn’t hired him.
Y’all are reading too much into Bane’s comments. He’s going to support his former teammate. These guys are PR trained.
He has been treated like a superstar while not even playing like a top 100 player and while being less available than Joel Embiid.
However he feels cant be fixed
It’s pretty apparent Jaren knows what’s coming
Mike Malone Or Tom Thibodeou Was Supposed To Be Hired. Memphis Is Mishandling Ja All The Way. You Back Your Players No Matter What Especially In A Small Market. Dillon Brooks Got Moved For What? Desmond Bane For KCP? Steven Adams Disappeared? You Took His Inner Support System From Him. Yeah He Gets Injured But Guess What? It’s Because He Was Playing His Heart Out For Your Mob. Ja Morant Isn’t On The Streets Fighting In Clubs, His Entourage Isn’t Committing Crimes, He’s Not Having Outlandish Scandals! The Man Flashed A Gun & People Act Like He’s Some Evil Entity. If Rob Gronkowski Did The Same Thing It Wouldn’t Be A Thing. Have Any Teammates Come Out & Say Ja Was A Terrible Person & A Pain To Hoop With? You Stand Up For Your Guy You Dont Let The Media Bash Him But Also Dont Coddle Him. People Are Holding On To A Gun Video Like It’s An Indictment On His Whole Career.
At a certain point, he’ll only understand what is him and what’s everyone else by getting distance from his current situation. If he’s just not happy here, he needs to go elsewhere and understand that this organization did plenty for him, because on his next stop, it’s going to be very different. Jimmy Butler has bounced around all over. **He knows it’s him**. Sure, he’s never going to say that but he’s been on enough teams dealing with the same shit to understand he’s the common denominator.
Ja hasn’t been anywhere else. He won’t realize that this is his issue until he goes elsewhere and gets a different perspective. On his next stop, it will not be a team configured around him. He’ll have to go and be a part of someone else’s system. Like, he could end up being some superstar’s sidekick. Like, say the Timberwolves figure out a package for Ja… he’s going to be on ANT’s team. He’ll have to get on the same page as him, too because you know what Ant believes? *”I don’t care what they do for the first three quarters, my teammates know they need to give to me in the 4th.”* How is Ja going to feel when he goes somewhere that isn’t interested in Calling 12? He’s gonna hate it.
But he’s never going to appreciate how this organization catered to him until he goes somewhere else. Say Miami figured out a package to get him… does anyone think Pat Riley is going to put up with Ja? The Heat **started** with a 7-game suspension on Butler when he started acting crazy… and Ja thinks it was unfair for the Grizzlies to have suspended him for 1? He doesn’t think TI should call him on his half-ass efforts on any end of the court? Doesn’t think TI should be saying *”Stop taking those threes and drive. If you’re not going to drive and you can’t make threes and you won’t play defense why should you play?”*
There’s no GM or coach in the league who’ll tell him differently. The only one who coddled him and tried to be his friend is without a job (*STILL without a job, mind you… after all those talking heads acted like it was the worst decision for the Grizzlies to fire Jenx, it seems that there’s not a single team in the NBA trying to give him a job*).
I’m ready for him to go, it’ll hurt, but it’s time to move on.
We stood by him when he was injured, we stood by him when he got suspended for being an idiot what more do we gotta do for bro ? I still love ja but he is just being a diva atp. Oh and all the social media posting is mad corny like bro you are close to 30 than 20 lock in.
I stand by the opinion that the Grit-n-Grind Grizzlies are the most loved and cherished version of the team in Memphis history. They weren’t the flashiest. They didn’t play the prettiest basketball. But they did several things right
1. Embraced Memphis and the underdog culture
2. Toughness. Go read about the process Conley went through when his face was broken so that he could make it back to the playoffs. Players played unless a body part was falling off.
3. Heart and hustle. Every game mattered. Every play mattered
The city can and will moved on from Ja and this version of the Grizzlies. The fans will support a team that gives their all and puts it all on the floor. I can’t say this version of the Grizzlies does that.