Ja Morant posted an Instagram video Saturday night of himself at a nightclub shirtless and brandishing a gun. His Instagram account and Twitter page has since be de-activated and the post is not longer live. It was announced he will not play in the next two games and the NBA is investigating the incident. Morant has issued an apology saying he “takes full responsibility” for his actions.This was on the heels of a Washington Post article detailing the history of the accusations, from violence to threats, that Morant and friends have been accused of conducting.
Suffice it to say that such behavior is contrary to the NBA’s core values and the code of conduct that the league established for its players and raises lots of red flags. Now that he is squarely in the public eye and under intense scrutiny, Morant must decide who he wants to associate with and how that will affect his NBA and off the court career. These choices will determine how he is perceived, his future opportunities, and how history will judge him. It is not too late reverse public perception but the time to act is now!
Morant is potentially a generational talent along the lines of Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. All of these referenced athletes made good decision by surrounding themselves with people that influenced them in a positive way that furthered their NBA career, public perception and ultimately, their off the court success. I know this from first hand experience representing Shaquille O’Neal for over a decade and working every day to ensure that the people in his life supported his mission statement to inspire others to maximize their potential. The other above mentioned NBA icons managed to do the same thing: surround themselves with people that influenced them in a positive manner and challenged them to realize their potential on and off the court.
And that leads back to Ja Morant, arguably the leagues most exciting, dynamic and explosive player. He is truly remarkable that is even more reason why his off the court choices are so important and how critical it is who he lets into his inner circle.
The classic study conducted by psychologist Solomon Asch in the 1950s confirms the power of the friend group. The Asch Conformity Experiment showed that people will often conform to the opinions of others in a group, even if those opinions are clearly wrong. They will gravitate towards a social identify likened to their friends as well as confirming to the code of conduct exhibited by the group.
Another corollary to this is the Framingham Heart Study Social contagion research has shown that people’s attitudes and behaviors can be “contagious” within social networks. In other words, you naturally gravitate towards what your circle of friends do and promote.
These studies proved that the people we spend time with can impact our decision-making processes so if people around you are encouraging you to lead the “thug” life, the likelihood is that you will comply.
I suggest Morant get together with his representatives and family and do some immediate pruning of those in his inner circle of friends. Morant has been blessed with remarkable talent and he is at pivotal point in his life where his near term decisions will have lasting impact. Hopefully, he’ll have an epiphany and realize how blessed he is and how he can be a beacon of light to inspire others in ways that few have the opportunity to do. “To be or not to be” as Shakespeare said is the question Morant needs to answer right now.