Shannon Sharpe is one of the more vocal sports commentators and is not scared to make his opinions known. On the latest episode of Undisputed, Sharpe directed his frustrations towards Ja Morant, who is under fire for one of his friends allegedly getting into a confrontation with members of the Pacers traveling party following the game last week.
“I wish Ja would realize he’s not a thug,” Sharpe said. “Ja is a really good basketball player. Ja did everything he could to lift himself and his family out of this environment and to get away from this. And for some reason, he wants to surround himself with these types of people. Why? Bruh, you not hard. That’s not your life. People that [are] in that life would give anything to be in your life.”
The Undisputed co-host continued, “for some reason, you got a $200 million contract, and you want people in the NBA to think you hood. To think you gangster because you roll with these types of people. Bruh, you putting yourself in harm’s way when you don’t have to!
“Nobody looks at you, Ja, and thinks, ‘man, that’s a thug; he hood. He down, he ’bout that.’ You not! Stop pretending! All you do is yap and talk about, ‘oh, I’m going to let him live and see another day; I’m going to do this.’ You not gonna do nothing! What you gon’ do is get yourself in trouble. Put yourself and your family in harm’s way when you don’t have to!”
According to CBS Sports, following the game against the Pacers, members from Morant’s entourage got into an altercation with members of the Pacer’s traveling party in the loading deck at the FedEx Forum. Someone in the group allegedly shined a red laser at members of the Pacers party, with witnesses believing that it was attached to a gun. Following the altercation, Morant’s friend Davonte Pack was banned from the Forum for the rest fo the season.
The NBA launched an investigation into the incident but could not find any evidence that anybody was threatened with a weapon.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass made a statement regarding the league’s investigation:
“NBA Security and league investigators conducted an investigation interviewing numerous eyewitnesses and reviewing video surveillance following allegations made by the Indiana Pacers organization regarding a postgame incident on Jan. 29. While we substantiated that a postgame situation arose that was confrontational, based on interviews and other evidence gathered, we could not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon,” Bass said. “Certain individuals involved in the postgame situation and a related matter during the game that night have been subsequently banned from attending games in the arena. If additional information becomes available related to the postgame situation, the league office will conduct a further review.”
