Due to the Second Amendment, the NBA does not have the authority to discipline Ja Morant for flashing a firearm in an Instagram Live video, and the fact that Morant broke no laws, this argument is so ridiculous that its creators should be punished for purposefully repeating it. Must work together.
Charles Barkley said Wednesday in the media on TNT of Morant's defenders, “Those guys are just that, they're just idiots.” “I only say ‘freak' because you won't let me say what I want to say.”
They probably aren't stupid. They're just choosing, for whatever reason, to ignore the obvious.
The NBA is free to prohibit such actions under the rules of Morant's contract and a conduct-detrimental-to-the-league clause in the collective bargaining agreement with the players' union.
The league has other specific rules that apply to guns, specifically no firearms in locker rooms, team facilities, aircraft, and other occasions.
The question is, should he do these things? Well, the NBA legally negotiated the right to make that decision.
Start with this: The Second Amendment protects a citizen from government action. Neither the Grizzlies nor the NBA have a government, so this is a completely moot point.
The NBA isn't saying the 23-year-old can't own a gun. Also not saying he can't brandish it. It doesn't want that he's doing it on publicly available video. This is an important distinction.
The NBA does not want to engage with gun culture. The players are the face of the league, the frontman for the entire multibillion dollar enterprise. Morant is one of the most prominent among them, an electric athlete who captivates television viewers and ticket holders every time he takes the court.
Perhaps for some, a player waving a gun on social media has no bearing on their interest in and support of the league. This is because there are other people who would be even more attracted to the NBA by such actions.
The league, however, believes to the contrary, that it is this kind of behavior and messaging that turns off customers and sponsors. Gun-waving players, it presumably believes, are bad for business. There is also an interest in not contributing to the impact on the whole of society that continues to deal with gun violence.
Again, that's the NBA's choice.
It sets all kinds of standards and policies in an effort to appeal to as many customers as possible. There is a player dress code, although this has been greatly relaxed in recent seasons. There are mandatory media obligations. There are conduct guidelines on and off the court that go beyond the legal standard, especially with sports betting.
It is no different from many businesses. Some require uniforms and others do not. Some get the employees to follow the script and protocol, some don't.
There are laws of society and rules of the job. Sometimes the rules of the job are so clear that they even become the law. For example, most people can drink alcohol within eight hours of starting work. According to the FAA airline pilots cannot. Anyone arguing with him?
Playing in the NBA is a privilege for Morant, which comes with a $194 million contract that begins next season. That salary was built not only on his individual talent, but also on decades of business practices that made the league one of the most popular and profitable in the world.
Barkley said, “man, when you're making $100 million a year playing sports, your life changes.” “There are some rules and regulations you have to live by straight and simple. You can't do stupid things. That's the deal. Now, if you want to do all that and give the money back, more power to you.” .
Indeed, Morant is free to quit and pursue a profession he doesn't care about on his IG account.
Some have pointed out that members of Congress and other elected officials are regularly photographed with firearms, even with their children. Why should Morant, only a basketball player, live at a “higher” level than a legislator?
Well, because the NBA is a business and Congress is not. Politicians trying to appeal to a small segment of the population are usually lumped into a homogenous group. If such an act was not popular among his constituents, he would not have done it. Condemnation of his action by others in other fields is actually a political force and an additional part of the strategy.
The approval rating for Congress is terrible. If even a small slice of the population approves of this, the NBA will be out of business.
And in all actuality, Morant is more influential than almost all politicians combined. Millions of people watch Morant. Few can name more than a handful of US delegates. Furthermore, most legislators of any political persuasion can easily and quickly switch with another candidate from the same party who will vote in exactly the same way. There are not many Ja.
There is nothing common in both. It's almost unwise to even explain.
The NBA doesn't want to get involved with guns. That's basically it. The players, through their union, have agreed to give the NBA the decision-making power and the disciplinary system to enforce it.
Morant was suspended once and did not change his behavior. A second one, longer this time, is coming.
No one's rights are being violated here, although Barclay's definition of the intelligence of all those involved as “idiots” is definitely an insult.