Dallas Maverick guard Kyrie Irving thinks people are being too judgmental toward Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant for posting a live video of himself carrying a handgun into a club in Denver.
No, seriously.
Irving said that Morant has become a victim of an overly critical contingent of people who - rightfully - think what Morant did was idiotic, shortsighted, and could have caused harm to more than just his reputation.
“I don’t want to assume anything by every media member, but that’s just the way it seems for me and my perspective, which is there was an overload of judgment on Ja,” Irving said. “There was an overload of judgment on what I had going on, and there’s usually an overload of judgment from the public court of opinion.”
I agree that the public court of opinion can oftentimes be wrong and unnecessary, but this is a rare instance where it isn’t.
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Professional athletes are held to a higher standard of behavior on and off the court, and carrying a gun in a club while recording yourself on Instagram Live certainly violates that standard. Morant also happens to be one of the NBA’s best players, so people are correct when they say what Morant did was wrong.
Ironically, Shannon Sharpe, who is no stranger to being an idiot himself, had the best reaction to the Morant situation of any in the media (which goes until the 2:20 mark of the video below):