Lil Wayne has defended Ja Morant following his second suspension of the season for flashing a gun on social media.
Appearing on the latest episode of Showtime’s All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Weezy was asked for his thoughts on the NBA star’s controversial off-court behavior.
Wayne explained that instead of rushing to judge Ja Morant, he tried to put himself in his shoes and compared it to how he felt when he was a young artist coming up in the game with money.
“The best I could do is remember when I was younger and my homies, my squad, my n-ggas around me, at the age where they don’t have money,” he said. “I’m the one with the money, and I don’t even know how much money I’ll end up with, but I’m the one with some money in my pocket — I know I got a bright future.
“My homies, they ain’t on a payroll. They my homies, they live good when they with me. When I gotta go to work and all that, they gotta go back to being who they gotta be. So what I’m saying that to say, they in them streets and I was aware of that.”
He continued: “So if I was going through something at that point in time, something public what slime going through, I could imagine the rebellious attitude I would have if my homies is egging that attitude on.”
Lil Wayne went on to point out that Ja Morant is a small-town kid who has come into millions of dollars, while reflecting on his own experience with guns despite coming from a loving family.
“Do y’all know that boy? ‘Cause I don’t,” he said. “I know him from dunking and jumping, and I only started knowing him when I started paying attention to him in his last year of college. He come from like a town with 3,000 people. Like, what? What y’all expect? Y’all gave him $200 million.
“I just said, a town with 3,000 people. You expect him to be responsible? Now we tripping. That’s magic. ‘Cause I could tell you now, I come from a real well-raised, beautiful mother, nice, you know what I mean? My mama would bust her ass to make sure everything around me was nice, and I still was a knucklehead. I shot myself.”
He added: “And that young man, I could imagine if I came from a fucking place with 3,000 people and I became who I am.”
Lil Wayne also recalled a conversation he had with Young Money cohort Gudda Gudda and one of his younger artists in an attempt to understand Ja Morant’s mindset.
“They came up with no answer for why he doing it,” he said. “They said, ‘To answer your question, since we don’t know that of him, we’ll answer you of what we do know. We do know he plays basketball and he plays real fucking good.
“‘But what we don’t know is, if he’s that great of a fucking gangsta, you know what I mean? He’s that great of a damn basketball player, we know that. We don’t know if he’s that great of whatever else you being.'”
The Memphis Grizzlies suspended Ja Morant from all team activities on May 14 after the All-Star guard brandished a gun on Instagram Live while in a car with friends. The incident came just two months after he was suspended for eight games over a similar incident.
Morant broke his silence on the situation by issuing a statement on Tuesday (May 16) and took responsibility for his actions.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” he said via his agent. “This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself.”
We don’t need to know him to know he’s an idiot and his “friends” don’t care about him. He got a light suspension and told everyone he was going to make better decisions just two months ago. Then he turns around and does the same thing. Dude doesn’t rap, nor is he in the streets, wtf is he on Instagram showing his wack ass pop gun…
you must haven’t watch the video… his friend didn’t have the gun .. he did when his friend turns the. camera to ja , he whips out the gun .. not him . in this case , don’t blame the homie , blame ja …his homie immediately turns the camera away as he sees the gun .. so yea .. don’t blame the homies , blame ja … he is grown man ..
It was his homeboy’s Instagram. He knew Morant had a gun in his lap and had previously been suspended for flashing guns. His boy went live trying to show everyone he’s cool with Morant…
Plus getting Ja ass in trouble again‼️ I get it really I do‼️ young , immature it’s comes with a young man’s territory ‼️ he needs therapy or his village to get him and sit him down, do so if he’s dealing with immaturity or mental stress‼️
Yall thinking about this situation exactly how the liberals want you to. What you should be asking is does Ja have a concealed weapons permit ? Does he have any felonies or can he legally carry a firearm ? What the fuck does him exercising his 2nd amendment rights on social media have to do with his employer ? He should sue the NBA. He got money and property to protect and he is warning the world what to expect if they run up on him. Its not the smartest thing in the world to reveal you stay strapped, but its not the dumbest thing either.
Ha! Blame “the liberals”. Fvck the liberals and your idiotic take! Ja is the face of his team. The face of his organization. People equate Ja with the Grizzlies and that’s the issue. They don’t want their team being equated with gang culture. That’s what Ja is portraying.
Also wild how you’re blaming “the liberals” when all over social media it’s conservatives who are on rants about Blacks and violence. Conservatives who want to label Black men as thugs and shiftless because of what they see from Ja.
Anyway, you have to conduct yourself in a certain way when you’re contractually obligated to someone or something. Jay’s not doing that and the organization he’s obligated to doesn’t like it. This is just conservative politics as work. Oh, and fvck the conservatives too.
I was enlightened by Wayne’s response. You got a strong point too. I believe that he should’ve been low key after the first incident, that’s all. He has a bright future. His homie recording that though and posting it is the problem. Social media is a weaponizing tool on others, as well as ourselves. Peace.
You don’t want to abide by the rules of the Association, then by all means quit and give the $ back.
People have the right to gamble, but NFL players can’t, quit the league and gamble all you want.
He’s a potential face of the NBA, simple as that. Most of the good young players (Luka, Jokic, Giannis, Wembenyama etc.) aren’t American, he was positioned to be that guy, so they want him to act right. Artest, technically, did nothing wrong during the Malice, even when he went into the stands he didn’t swing on anybody, Jackson did. It wasn’t until he was back on the floor, where fans aren’t supposed to be, that he started punching. NBA didn’t give a fuck about all that tho, it’s about the optics.
Excuses excuses excuses. Same ol crap. Their contracts have a morality clause. They have to carry themselves a certain way. They are representing their team. There are a list of things that him and his boys have done.
Gotta love how idiots with prior gun charges (Wayne and Blocboy) flock to Ja’s defense. They shouldn’t be talking if they really want to protect him.
Wayne is trash. Not the poster boy for enlightened thoughts. Wayne came to R Kelly’s defense too. That didn’t age well…
So did Wayne just admit he grew up in a nice household? These rappers keep telling y’all/us they’re not built like that. Also, Ja is 23 fucking years old. He’s not a kid. He knows right from wrong and chooses to fuck up
He been saying it, Jadakiss is the one who went to private school, had both parents and tries to sound like the biggest G from Yonkers smh
He is about that life I’m from Yonkers try jadakiss. He not talking he was in the streets. Do what his living situation was good but he still had to go outside’ let’s not forget his parents house was in the hood. Do your research!!! #dblock #lox #wearethestreets
no i don’t know him but i do know he’s lined up for about $500m and he’s doing all he can to not make it happen. if his ‘boys’ were actually his boys they’d tell him to chill until he signs the contract.
Weezy looks more like Whoopi everyday.
Well if you have enemies who will kill you if they find you i don’t blame him this must be the reason why
i have been thinking you take another mans life that impression is bigger than how you realise you know kids wife a livelihood there are seriously people who i want dead but look at that bigger picture this ain’t fucking gta 5 you think italians just kill people they have a sit down and really take shit like that as if they were police
i have been thinking you take another mans life that impression is bigger than how you realise you know kids wife a livelihood there are seriously people who i want dead but look at that bigger picture this ain’t fucking gta 5 you think italians just kill people they have a sit down and really take shit like that as if they were police
Hopefully he gets arrested and learns that way, I did. When them COs tell you to take your shit off, bend over and cough, demean you, talk shit to you, feed you trash and treat you like nothing, you learn. Either that you’re really about that, or that you’re really not. I wasn’t…at all.
When I need a better understanding of why a clown acts the way he does, I always want to know what Lil Wayne thinks..
He is a 23 year old black man who has grown up in a society where 2nd amendment right are revered above the lives of school children, church goers, shoppers, movie or theater goers. He is part of a generation that has had to deal with people being shot in schools, homes, churches, stores, hospitals and you name it.. The word is that the right to bear arms is a constitutional right. So why isolate this one individual with a gun and deny him a constitutional right? Can he legally have a gun or a weapon of war? Or is this action to prevent a young black man from earning 200 million dollars legally?
Wrong way to “let your nuts hang” kid…… how are you gonna act or respond when all your glory is stripped from you? When you’re just another failed statistic because you couldn’t leave that past life behind and respect your status? You might wanna sit your show boatin tail down before you become another once was has been.
Be Humble, Sit Down!