{"id":126005,"date":"2025-02-27T14:00:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T19:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=126005"},"modified":"2025-02-27T13:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T18:38:14","slug":"ja-morant-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/27\/ja-morant-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Ja Morant and the Dark Side of Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ja Morant<\/a> has recently explained why he is less active on social media. He cited his growing frustration with the online world. Morant<\/a> said the following.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I hate it there. The only reason I\u2019m on it still is because I have endorsements and stuff I got to post. I don\u2019t really want to be there. Hopefully y\u2019all enjoy it now because when I hang it up, y\u2019all won\u2019t see me no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s unfortunate that a player like Morant, one of the young stars of the NBA, has developed such a strong distaste for social media. His frustration has grown to the point where he only uses it when absolutely necessary. Let’s explore Morant’s long history with social media and the impact social media has on top athletes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Ja Morant and the Dark Side of Social Media<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media<\/h3>\n

Social media can be both a blessing and a curse. When athletes perform well, the praise they receive online can be uplifting, and platforms provide opportunities to generate additional income through endorsement deals. Social media also gives everyone a voice, but that same accessibility can lead to relentless criticism when performances fall short. Additionally, it enables individuals to post hateful and harmful comments simply because they have the ability to do so from their smartphones. There are both positives and negatives to social media, but in Morant\u2019s case, it appears the negatives have begun to outweigh the positives.<\/p>\n

The Weight of Public Scrutiny<\/h3>\n

Morant sounds like someone who has had enough of today\u2019s social media landscape, and his frustration goes beyond general negativity. The young star has faced troubling off-court incidents, leading to multiple disciplinary actions from the NBA. As a result, his character and actions have been placed under the microscope of public opinion, which social media only amplifies.<\/p>\n

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In March 2023, Morant was suspended for eight games after brandishing a firearm on Instagram Live at a Denver-area strip club. Just two weeks after that season ended, he appeared on Instagram Live again. This time, he held up a firearm while singing along to a rap song with a friend. This second incident prompted NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to issue a 25-game suspension<\/a> at the start of the 2023-24 season. The criticism on social media only grew. Both fans and mainstream media outlets heavily scrutinized Morant\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

The Fallout from Morant\u2019s Confidence<\/h3>\n

Another notable moment that made Morant a target on social media was his infamous \u201cWe\u2019re fine in the West\u201d interview with ESPN<\/a> in December 2022. When asked which teams could challenge the Grizzlies, he dismissed concerns about any team in the Western Conference. Those comments followed him throughout the season and exploded after the Lakers eliminated the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. Social media had a field day, creating memes and heavily criticizing his perceived arrogance. The relentless ridicule can become demoralizing and suffocating for any athlete, no matter how mentally strong they are.<\/p>\n

Can Ja Morant Regain His Elite Form?<\/h3>\n

It is crucial for Ja Morant<\/a> to return to the mental state he was in earlier in his career. During that time, he was dominating the game from the guard position. His performance made him look like one of the NBA’s top point guards. His play has not been at that level this season, which is understandable given the time he has missed due to injury last season. However, the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> can only contend with the Oklahoma City Thunder if Morant returns to his dominant form from 2021-23. During that stretch, he could single-handedly take over games in the fourth quarter. A recent win over the Phoenix Suns showed that Ja might be on track to return to his elite form, in this game he notched 29 points and hit two clutch shots to force overtime.<\/p>\n

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The Grizzlies will go as far as Morant can take them. If he continues playing at his current level, the team\u2019s ceiling is likely a second-round playoff appearance. But if he can regain the form of a few seasons ago\u2014when he was mentally sharp and played with a contagious joy\u2014Memphis could have a much higher ceiling.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Morant\u2019s struggles with social media reflect a larger issue many athletes are faced with today. While it can be a tool for success, it can also become a burden. For Ja Morant<\/a>, limiting his online presence might be a necessary step in returning to his best self\u2014both on and off the court.<\/p>\n

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Photo credit: \u00a9 Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ja Morant has recently explained why he is less active on social media. He cited his growing frustration with the online world. Morant said the following. \u201cYeah, I hate it there. The only reason I\u2019m on it still is because I have endorsements and stuff I got to post. I don\u2019t really want to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5400,"featured_media":126020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,32,62],"tags":[1822],"class_list":["post-126005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-grizzlies","category-nba","tag-ja-morant"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5400"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126005"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126023,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126005\/revisions\/126023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}