There’s plenty to criticize Ja Morant for, but what he did in New Orleans is not one of them. The Grizzlies were visiting the Pelicans on Tuesday night when Morant capped off a thunderous alley-oop and proceeded to celebrate, sending shockwaves through social media.
Ja Morant’s dance wasn’t a gun celebration, even if it looked like it
This didn’t have anything to do with guns.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The immediate assumption was that Morant was making yet another gun reference, which honestly is a little fair considering his past off-court issues. The Memphis star only just returned from a 25-game suspension on December 19 for flashing a gun during an Instagram Live session, which wasn’t his first gun-related issue since entering the league.
While Morant’s celebration did look like he was spraying the crowd with bullets, it was really benign. The reality is that Morant was poking fun at the New Orleans Pelicans by dropping a dance straight out of Baton Rouge after dunking on them.
This was later confirmed by Morant for anyone who wasn’t familiar with the dance.
This is more than just a random dance, there’s history here too. It was the Pelicans who passed over Morant in the 2019 NBA Draft to select Zion Williamson, and while both players are great, it’s fair to say that Morant has been the better player overall when he’s been on the court.
So, by dropping the “Rock Ya Hips,” Morant celebrated his big play, made a reference to his opponent, and poked fun at the Pelicans’ passing on him — all in a single motion. Are the optics a little off? Perhaps. Should Ja be a little more careful how his actions could be interpreted? Maybe. But ultimately people are being just a little too sensitive to look for negative connotations in everything, instead of accepting that maybe they just don’t get it.
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