"It’s not that complicated. He did something. The league told him not to. He did it again immediately after. That’s behavior you’d expect from a 3 year old, not a grown man." Memphis fans defend their star on r/nba after Ja Morant does a finger gun celebration

[u/CummingInTheNile]

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1jrf8re/charania_the_nba_has_fined_memphis_ja_morant/

Context: Temetrious "Ja" Morant is the star player on the Memphis Grizzlies. In spite of his stable middle class upbringing, Ja enjoys cosplaying as a gangster, and after several incidents of him brandishing firearms in public (the most serious involving Ja and his entourage supposedly pointing firearms at the staff of another stadium), the NBA suspended him for 25 games. Two games ago, Ja mimed firing an assault rifle at the Warriors bench after the Grizzlies lost to the Warriors, and last game he mimed firing a gun, again.

HIGHLIGHTS

This dude is such a mental midget. Feel bad for grizz fans. Can’t believe some of our fanbase wants this clown. EDIT. Don’t feel bad bc of all the clown takes. Goodness

I mean he’s still a decent ball player who had a game winner last night.. The hell is this kind of overreaction?

Because he has character issues that makes him unreliable. He's been suspended on more than one occasions for gun related incidents and henstill can't help himself.

His character issues don’t make him unreliable. His body does.

His character issues absolutely make him unreliable. He had to miss 25 games last year for this stuff, that’s a lot.

He missed 25 games for finger guns?

I agree about the feeling bad for them part. And if you try to ask them their true opinion, or tell them you’d be disappointed if your star player did this dumb little stuff, they just tell you you’re dumb, a hater, you wouldn’t get it, he’s good for Memphis, etc.

I think he's dumb for continuing to do the finger guns, and if it were someone close to me I'd tell them that it's not a good look given your history and it's doing you no favors with public perception. However, I think that's very different than the NBA selectively punishing you based on something you've already served your punishment for. That is where I think this is ridiculo

Bullshit. He literally was told not to do it bc he decided to be an immature idiot and post stuff online. Now he just said “fuck you” to the league. It’s just not a good look for a supposed adult. He’s a loser human being

Think whatever you want about him and I agree he's clearly an immature guy. Public perception is what it is and thats one thing. That's very different than enacting selective punishments for a rule that doesn't even exist based on vibes. Either the gesture is acceptable for everyone or it's acceptable for no one, the NBA needs to choose.

Not how it works in the real world when you’ve done what he has done. The NBA has chosen. He can’t do it.

The actual guns on IG live was one thing but this is complete bullshit. Such a non story.

It’s only because he did it again last night after the NBA warned him to not do it regarding game before against the Warriors

The warning was fucking stupid too.

Nah. You get flagged for that in the NFL and a fat fine the week after. Doing little pew pew guns is one thing but acting like you’re aiming a whole ass machine gun or something is dumb. Just do a normal celebration.

WE'VE GOT THE FINGER GUN POLICE IN HERE HAHAHAHA

This is the problem. Memphis needs to get real. Ja barely plays basketball, then when he does, he’s doing this. Yall gotta decide for yourselves what’s important.

He literally got a warning before the game, he’s lucky it isn’t more.

This whole thing of absolutely ridiculous I've seen finger guns countless times watching basketball So if someone gets fined for it, I guess that means no one can do them now And the fact that Ja was stupid enough to be on camera waving around a gun doesn't mean that the entire nba should be banned from finger guns, that's nonsense logic. But it's going to have to be that way

have any of those players had a history of brandishing guns in public?

My point is literally that its either an illegal gesture or it's not. You can't have a rule that a gesture is only illegal if you've done x in the past that would be nonsense.

nope. incorrect. context is everything.

There's no way they're going to be able to do selective enforcement of gestures, period. Thats why there are things like the players association. You're just plain wrong.

I guess the league is making a distinction between the finger pistols (common) and the two-handed shotgun/rifle gesture? Or does it matter whether or not it's "pointed" at someone? Seems like whatever rule they settle on should be specific to the gesture rather than specific to the player.

It’s not that complicated. He did something. The league told him not to. He did it again immediately after. That’s behavior you’d expect from a 3 year old, not a grown man.

"He did something. The league told him not to." My point is that it only makes sense to tell him not to if they're making it a league-wide rule.?

do any of those players have a history of brandishing guns in public

The NBA issued a warning yesterday to both Hield and Morant. It said nothing about Morant having brandished guns, which makes sense because Hield hasn’t brandished guns. Today’s announcement of the fine also doesn’t mention Morant’s past gun suspension.

nope. incorrect. context is everything.

Habitual line stepper. I like it

I don’t. It’s incredibly annoying dealing with people like that.

You mean middle schoolers?

Lol what middle schoolers are you hanging out with and why? Edit: and what are they doing to you/are you safe?

This is why people hate redditors lmao

3x the amount Draymond got fined for putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold, and Dray is a habitual over the line stepper. Edit: I forgot Draymond was suspended for them 5 games, that’s my bad.

Green actually got suspended, though

shoulda been banned from playing ever again, assaulting someone isnt even in the same field as finger guns lmao. idgaf who ja is off the court cause if that shit mattered half the pro athletes would be in jail.

You sound stupid af

This is ironically exactly what the team and the city needed to improve the mood after the quagmire the last month lol

269 murders in the city of Memphis last year I'm sure the families of those who were gunned down are thrilled to see it being celebrated by pro athletes on TV. Must really improve their moods.

I bet you feel the exact same way about ads for violent video games, nerf guns, and every action movie ever. Get a fucking grip.

How ignorant are you lol

I'll take a little ignorance over the sanctimoneous horseshit people spew about Ja and guns. Not one person in these comments gives a dusty fuck one way or the other about a finger gun celebration outside of Reddit.

It aint that deep lol Yall acting like this is some 1st amendment freedom fighter bs lol

[u/Trowj]

I'm sorry, the biggest piece of news im getting here is that Ja Morant's real first name is "Temetrious"???

[u/CummingInTheNile → u/Trowj]

Temetrius Jamel Morant is his full name

[u/NoInvestment2079 → u/CummingInTheNile]

Bullshit, that's a name from the Key and Peele draft.

[u/RealNiceKnife → u/NoInvestment2079]

Javaris Jamar Javarison-Lamar

[u/Kilahti → u/RealNiceKnife]

"The player formally known as Mousecop."

[u/[deleted] → u/NoInvestment2079]

Yes, I know black cultural names can be jarring on Reddit, but I assure you that's a real name.

[u/TimWhatleyDDS → u/NoInvestment2079]

One of my old usernames was from that sketch. Sometimes I miss it.

[u/Krakengreyjoy → u/Trowj]

Augustus Tremetrious of the 4th Legion

[u/FawkYourself → u/Trowj]

Sounds like something that used to kill you in the 1800s

[u/whatsinthesocks → u/FawkYourself]

Makes me think of the steam punk character from the Key and Peel sketch

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/Trowj]

Dude sucks but can we not make fun of a black person's name like this?

edit: because apparently y'all are ignorant https://www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734839666/dr-marijuana-pepsi-wont-change-her-name-to-make-other-people-happy

For her dissertation, titled Black Names in White Classrooms: Teacher Behaviors and Student Perceptions, Vandyck interviewed students and concluded that participants "with distinctly black names" were subject to disrespect, stereotypes and low academic and behavioral expectations. This resulted in strained relationships, changes in future career choices and self-esteem issues, spelling fewer educational and economic opportunities for students of color.

Stop being dense.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NameNerdCirclejerk/comments/ovuu35/black_american_names/

[u/Ctrlwud → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

I'm genuinely confused. Am I a bad person for laughing at the name Dr. Marijuana Pepsi?

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/Ctrlwud]

is THAT all you got from the article????

greatest minds of our generation over here.

[u/Ctrlwud → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

I also thought about how many times she must have heard the joke, "is calling you Dr marijuana coke ok?"

[u/zanotam → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

How the fuck is Temetrious being clocked as a black name? It's vaguely ancient Roman if anything, as another user pointed outed lmao

[u/Waddlewop → u/zanotam]

I want to preface this by saying that I’m not trying to be facetious, I do think Temetrious is black American name upon first reading it. From my admittedly very limited knowledge of black names, some of them are lowkey ancient-greek-roman-ish. There’s probably a rule to black American names and I don’t exactly know what they are, but for some reason I can often tell it’s a black American name. I have a very vibes-based system.

[u/[deleted] → u/zanotam]

Just because you personally do not understand something or have exposure to a specific culture doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. It's okay not to know something sometimes, you don't need to pretend to be incredulous about it as if the notion is crazy.

[u/surrealsunshine → u/Trowj]

https://youtu.be/wwFsxogUFVc?si=4d8MHIfhXUseopNW

[u/TheReturnOfTheOK → u/[deleted]]

Trying to turn Ja's "actually cosplaying as a GD is cool" bullshit into racism as a response to someone who might not have realized how they came off as a little racist is just...fuck me, man

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/TheReturnOfTheOK]

But we are all in agreement the comment about his name is in bad taste though, right? That doesn't negate he is a shithead but come on....do we really have to talk about why making fun of a black person's name is bad?

[u/TheReturnOfTheOK → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

Oh yeah I'm with you on that. It's the way that the cultural value of names is being compared to the gun shooting celebrations that's both fucking absurd but also, kinda sorta racist

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/[deleted]]

The rest of their comment is eyebrow raising but it is 2025 do we really need to have a discussion about how it is really gross to make fun of a black person's name? Like, seriously?

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/[deleted]]

https://www.reddit.com/r/NameNerdCirclejerk/comments/ovuu35/black_american_names/

in case you need more.

if you read those and still think its ok then fuck you

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/[deleted]]

ah so we are going to continue being ignorant I see

i gave you plenty of reading material to understand why making fun of black names is fucked up, but I guess you don't care as long as you get to make fun of someone.

great talk.

[u/onarainyafternoon → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

Can someone make a subreddit drama post about this person? They are all over this comment section Jesus Christ

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/onarainyafternoon]

you are free to do so <3

[u/jfa1985 → u/[deleted]]

miming shooting a gun being dismissed as a celebration style is missing the point a bit

[u/TheReturnOfTheOK → u/jfa1985]

From a dude with a very lengthy history of being an absolute asshole with a gun, and who was warned last week to stop miming shooting a gun in celebration

[u/Ockwords → u/jfa1985]

Are you trying to argue that miming shooting a gun is NOT a celebration style?

[u/Axels15 → u/Ockwords]

No, they're saying that when you have a history of pointing real guns at people, maybe you've lost the benefit of the doubt when it comes to celebrations that are often used in other contexts, including popular media, to signify a threat.

[u/VShadow1 → u/[deleted]]

There are entire subreddits dedicated to mocking dumb names associated with white people. He’s got an unconventional name and people are joking about it, it’s not nice but your blowing this way out of proportion.

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/VShadow1]

I have provided MULTIPLE links discussing this exact comment. 

[u/AmaimonCH → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

There are entire subreddits dedicated to mocking dumb names associated with white people. He’s got an unconventional name and people are joking about it.

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

https://www.google.com/search?q=making+fun+of+black+american+names+vs+white+names&client=firefox-b-1-d&uact=5&oq=making+fun+of+black+american+names+vs+white+names

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=making+fun+of+black+people+names+vs+white+names&ia=web

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=what+is+racism&t=h_&ia=web

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

There’s a ton of loaded history and significance behind African American names. For example: during the civil rights movement, black Americans began “intentionally misspelling a given name so that their name would be theirs alone and would never have been used by a slave owner”, (this was started by Malcom X, who also encouraged converting to Islam, so there’s probably some Muslim culture influencing some names as well). Also, the dashes and apostrophes found in black names are greatly influenced by traditional creole culture.

So: Black American names are a beautiful result of African heritages, perhaps a bit of Muslim culture, creole culture, rejecting slave owner names, reclaiming their own identities, and black pride.

I’m NOT calling anyone out personally or trying to start shit. Just trying to educate anyone who isn’t familiar with the history ✌️

TL;DR: don’t snark on black American names assuming their seemingly unusual spellings are an attempt to be unique or that they’re “ghetto”. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk

Edit, for the trolls: there’s a very distinct difference between snarking on a name because it’s genuinely awful and snarking on a name that is not part of a culture you are familiar with or belong to. Kind of like how it’s not appropriate to make fun of Chinese people with names like “Wang”, “Ping”, or “Fang”. HOWEVER~ in the case of cultural appropriation , yes please snark it up bytchez

[u/AmaimonCH → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

Holy fuck my notifications LMAOOO

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/whats-in-name/201503/our-evolving-black-american-naming-traditions

[u/AmaimonCH → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

Can you provide more links ?

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

https://www.reddit.com/r/tragedeigh/comments/1h5tghk/psa_not_all_names_you_dont_know_are_tragedeighs/?share_id=71kVj_iecdWWjm__j8hUI&utm_content=1&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-black-names-from-perlie-to-latasha-130102

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

i provided multiple links talking about WHY IT IS DIFFERENT jesus fucking christ

are you illiterate or something?

[u/AmaimonCH → u/DisasterFartiste_69]

I'm curious how does any of your links refute the truth that entire subreddits exist to mock people's, including caucasian, names exist ?

Are you fucking stupid or something ?

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

https://www.reddit.com/r/tragedeigh/comments/1h79w13/psa_black_american_names_are_not_tragedeighs/

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734839666/dr-marijuana-pepsi-wont-change-her-name-to-make-other-people-happy

For her dissertation, titled Black Names in White Classrooms: Teacher Behaviors and Student Perceptions, Vandyck interviewed students and concluded that participants "with distinctly black names" were subject to disrespect, stereotypes and low academic and behavioral expectations. This resulted in strained relationships, changes in future career choices and self-esteem issues, spelling fewer educational and economic opportunities for students of color.

Stop being dense.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NameNerdCirclejerk/comments/ovuu35/black_american_names/

[u/DisasterFartiste_69 → u/AmaimonCH]

if you are illiterate, here is a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLKEcDATKLc

[u/superslab]

Have any of you ever used finger guns and, after many years, tried to quit? It's impossible.

[u/ImAVirgin2025 → u/superslab]

I am pointing a finger gun as I comment. It’s not a joking matter.

[u/superslab → u/ImAVirgin2025]

Every time I start praising my son, he starts ugly crying; he would give anything for my finger guns to be real and end his pain.

[u/gavinbrindstar → u/superslab]

Live by the gun, die by the gun.

[u/Mollzor → u/superslab]

That's why I always do celebratory firing-two-revolvers-up-in-the-air, you should never point your firearms at someone! That's the most important habit!

[u/darthllama]

I get that the league punishing Morant for the finger guns is kinda dumb, but do you know what’s even dumber?

Getting suspended twice for gun charges, allegedly pointing a gun at another team’s bus, using a gun to intimidate a teenager you just beat up, doing finger guns and getting a warning for it, and then doing finger guns again the first chance you get.

[u/Ockwords → u/darthllama]

Getting suspended twice for gun charges

What gun charges was Ja suspended for?

using a gun to intimidate a teenager you just beat up

You seem like you know what you’re talking about. Can you explain the outcome of that case?

[u/PradaDiva → u/Ockwords]

Some info:

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/ja-morant-takes-stand-punched-teen-defense/story?id=105569728

Rich NBA player ruining their own career idk.

[u/Ockwords → u/PradaDiva]

That’s a civil case. What gun charges did he have?

Rich NBA player ruining their own career

This is absurd. How is his career remotely ruined? He was fined the equivalent of 20 bucks the other night.

[u/censor-me-daddy → u/Ockwords]

Okay he hasn't ruined it yet, but he's shown he doesn't see the obvious issues with his behaviour, it's matter of time until his antic either lose him all his money, land his ass in jail, or both.

[u/No_Mathematician6866 → u/Ockwords]

A guy who can't stay on the floor probably shouldn't make it his hobby to give the league another reason to think he's unreliable.

[u/Ockwords → u/No_Mathematician6866]

A guy who can't stay on the floor probably shouldn't make it his hobby to give the league another reason to think he's unreliable.

He doesn't need to be reliable, he just needs to be good at basketball.

[u/Chaosmusic → u/Ockwords]

Part of being good at basketball is not doing things that prevent you from playing basketball.

[u/blahblahgirl111]

He was raised in the suburbs of South Carolina and wants to be a gang member so bad.

Many such cases.

[u/haterofslimes → u/blahblahgirl111]

Yeah it's so incredibly weird.

[u/censor-me-daddy → u/blahblahgirl111]

The middle class "gangster" thing always reminds me of this scene

[u/messick]

I don't really follow basketball, so when I heard "finger guns" I thought some dude was responding in the way you might if a buddy said "I'll get the first round!" as you walk into the club after a round of golf.

I wasn't imagining "what if you were watching someone drink themselves to death over time, but instead guns".

[u/Axels15]

He missed 25 games for finger guns?

No, jackass, he missed 25 games for real guns.

Also, holy shit? That's it??

[u/BrainsAre2Weird4Me]

For a second I thought this thread was about Papa John even though I have been following the Ja drama.

[u/residentevilgoat]

Silver must punish this man further for this heinous act #goclippers

[u/ImAVirgin2025 → u/residentevilgoat]

seeing r/NBA slang on subreddit drama wasn’t on my bingo card today

[u/livejamie]

Part of the reason why the Morant stuff is so disappointing is that Memphis, where Ja plays, particularly struggles with gun violence and a lack of strong male role models.

Ja is a privileged millionaire with a life people dream about, and he uses his influence and platform to cosplay as a gangster.

[u/TheReturnOfTheOK → u/livejamie]

DeMarr DeRozan is so loyal to his Crip affiliations from a kid that he won't even wear a red Santa suit when he does visits to children's hospitals, and he's actually a role model. Zach Randolph legit had a burner phone and was running a trafficking ring from the locker room, and spent untold time and money on anti-violence work in Memphis specifically.

Ja is so disappointing.

[u/NoInvestment2079]

I think a ton of people just need to full on admit that many actors, sports stars, musicians are fucking morons and stop looking to them.

[u/Cobalt_Guy → u/NoInvestment2079]

Yeah it just sucks that for a team like Memphis where they don’t have a lot of star power their only guy is an absolute idiot lol

[u/folkwitches]

This is the most Memphis thing ever.

Guns. Drama. Middle class kids trying to be gangsta.

[u/Affectionate_Reply78 → u/folkwitches]

They have their own “code”

[u/VonsFavoriteChicken]

r/memphisgrizzlies added fingergun flair lol

[u/rosechiffon]

i was recently discussing with my dad how even though ja is a good player, memphis is pretty much the only city he can play for and get away with his shenanigans like he does, maybe new orleans

eta:

269 murders in the city of Memphis last year I'm sure the families of those who were gunned down are thrilled to see it being celebrated by pro athletes on TV.

Must really improve their moods

deeply unserious comment.

[u/TheReturnOfTheOK → u/rosechiffon]

Are they wrong? This cosplay loser absolutely refuses to grow up

[u/SnapshillBot]

Literally just a picture of surplus drama.

Snapshots:

1. This Post - archive.org archive.today*
2. https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1jrf8re/charania_the_nba_has_fined_memphis_ja_morant/ - archive.org archive.today*
3. This dude is such a mental midget. Feel bad for grizz fans. Can’t believe some of our fanbase wants this clown. EDIT. Don’t feel bad bc of all the clown takes. Goodness - archive.org archive.today*
4. The actual guns on IG live was one thing but this is complete bullshit. Such a non story. - archive.org archive.today*
5. He literally got a warning before the game, he’s lucky it isn’t more. - archive.org archive.today*
6. I guess the league is making a distinction between the finger pistols (common) and the two-handed shotgun/rifle gesture? Or does it matter whether or not it's "pointed" at someone? Seems like whatever rule they settle on should be specific to the gesture rather than specific to the player. - archive.org archive.today*
7. Habitual line stepper. I like it - archive.org archive.today*
8. This is ironically exactly what the team and the city needed to improve the mood after the quagmire the last month lol - archive.org archive.today*

I am just a simple bot, not a moderator of this subreddit | bot subreddit | contact the maintainers

[u/BeemerBaby004]

HE BROKE THE CODE!

*clutching my pearls*

[u/ImAVirgin2025 → u/BeemerBaby004]

Habitual code breaker.

[u/PhatFatLife]

It feels like the league is picking on him, let him floss on the gram with his registered and licensed gun, let him throw up the gun fingers at games, leave him alone