Ja Morant should STOP trying to ‘keep it real,’ ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins insists

Gun-toting Ja Morant needs to stop trying to ‘keep it real,’ and instead focus on ‘hooping,’ according to ESPN personality and former NBA center Kendrick Perkins.

‘Who are you doing it for?’ Perkins asked on Monday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take. ‘Are you doing to get applause?… ‘Oh yeah man, you know what, he a real one. He a real one.’ Keep it real for who?’

Morant will be away from the Memphis Grizzlies for at least their next two games, the team announced Saturday, not long after the NBA opened an investigation into a social media post by the guard, who livestreamed himself holding what appeared to be a gun at a nightclub. The video was posted by Morant on his Instagram page early Saturday, hours after the Grizzlies played in Denver.

That incident followed a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.

Furthermore, a recent Washington Post report claims that Morant threatened a mall security guard in Memphis last summer during a parking lot altercation four days before allegedly punching a 17-year-old, retrieving a handgun from his home, and re-emerging with the firearm in his waistband. Morant was also seen miming handguns with his fingers during a recent sideline celebration against the Houston Rockets on March 1. 

Gun-toting Ja Morant (left) needs to stop trying to ‘keep it real,’ and instead focus on ‘hooping,’ according to ESPN personality and former NBA center Kendrick Perkins (right) 

The issue, according to Perkins, is that the 23-year-old Morant is trying to impress people who he should be ignoring, given all that he has to lose.

‘You work your entire life to get out of a situation that you was in to provide a better life for yourself, to secure your future, to secure your kids’ future, your kids’ kids’ future, to get to this point, not to go back to relating on trying to please others,’ said Perkins, a 38-year-old who was raised by his grandparents in a low-income area of East Texas.

And Perkins wasn’t just talking about Morant, but the entire Grizzlies organization. The former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics called out Memphis stars Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. over unspecified tweets.

‘This is not just Ja Morant, when it comes down to the Memphis Grizzlies,’ Perkins told host Stephen A. Smith and guest Brian Windhorst. ‘See this is the Memphis Grizzlies as a whole. You got Desmond Banes (sic), Jaren Jackson Jr. – I watch how they talk on social media, and I keep asking ‘why?’ Like, you’re basketball players. You’re basketball players. You don’t have to be about that life. About what life? Just be about hooping.’

Morant drew criticism at a recent game for miming hand guns during a sideline celebration

Perkins did have some sympathy for Morant, a young millionaire who could be a target for potential thieves.

After all, Perkins played in Boston with Paul Pierce, who was stabbed at a club in 2000 and admittedly began carrying a gun afterwards.

‘First of all, to the people in the outside world, that never been in this situation, you don’t know how hard it is,’ Perkins said. ‘You don’t understand coming from nothing then all of the sudden having the world in the palm of your hands, having access to millions, or hundreds of millions of dollars, riding private jets, doing whatever the hell you want at a young age – 23, 24, 25 years of age – you don’t even understand because you’ve never been in that position.

‘That’s a hard position to be in.’

Perkins wasn’t just talking about Morant, but the entire Grizzlies organization. The former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics called out Memphis stars Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. over unspecified tweets

Perkins went on to say that he hopes Morant gets help, adding that ‘he’s gonna be OK,’ because the All-Star point guard is still young enough to change.

But Perkins’ bigger fear is that Morant and other athletes are making it harder for the next generation of black players to succeed at the pro level.

‘What players are doing today, in today’s game, man they are killing the next generation,’ Perkins said, referring the recent trend of trade demands among top NBA players. ‘They are killing the 80 percent or more of African-American kids that are out there grinding, day in and day out, parents sacrificing money that they don’t have to travel to make sure that they kids get to these AAU games because these kids, actually, could have an opportunity to get to the league.

‘It comes to a point where you just have to solely focus on what got you here, be grateful for what got you here, and stop trying to please the quote unquote ‘real ones,’ that don’t give a damn about you,’ Perkins continued. ‘Because when it’s all said done, once you quit playing, your phone stops ringing.’