Mavs’ Kyrie Irving Blasts Media on Ja Morant Gun Issue: 'Overload of Judgment'
Though Monday night's matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies ended up being an exciting game, it was missing some star power.
With Luka Doncic out for his fifth-straight game, the pressure was on Kyrie Irving's shoulders to lead Dallas to victory, but his attempt fell short in the fourth quarter as the Grizzlies notched a 112-108 win on their home court.
For the Grizzlies, they were without Ja Morant for the ninth-straight game, who has been away from team while serving an eight-game suspension.
Following the loss, Irving and Morant shared an embrace on the FedExForum court, and the Mavericks guard was asked about what was said in that brief meeting.
"I believe any hardship in life builds character and when you're dealing with particular hardships in the public eye, especially with the media being attracted to keeping up with what we're doing or what's the next kind of grab or story," Irving said. "I don't want to assume anything by every media member, but that's just the way it seems from me and my perspective."
Morant just finished up serving his eight-game suspension handed down by the league which stemmed from him flashing a gun on his Instagram live while at a Denver nightclub on March 4.
During his leave of absence from the team, Morant took part in a counseling program in Florida to help deal with how to cope with stress and improve his well-being while the NBA investigated the situation.
Irving has dealt with his own instances of judgment from the media and the public in general, and he knows how Morant is feeling at this particular time.
"There was an overload of judgment with Ja, and there was an overload of judgment of what I had going on," Irving said. "And there's usually an overload of judgment from the public court of opinion, so with that working hand in hand and we're such a public league, we're going to deal with situations that may be very difficult for the person going through it but I think that's why we stretch our hands out to one another to be there for each other."
Irving dealt with backlash from the public eye right before the beginning of this season after promoting an anti-Semitic film on social media, which led to a suspension from the NBA and the end of his partnership with Nike.
For someone who has been in his shoes, Irving believes it's important to be there for Morant through a time of controversy.
"With Ja dealing with that, I think the initial shock was dealing with the public opinion and all of the extra hoopla that comes with it, but then there's a real human being dealing with emotions so I cared about that aspect," Irving said. "That's where I poured my energy to."
Morant is scheduled to return to the floor for the Grizzlies on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, and he could very well match up against Irving and the Mavericks in the first-round of the postseason with the way the Western Conference standings are looking with 10 games remaining.
"I wished his family well wishes, wished him well wishes and I just pray for his peace of mind. That's all I really care about in this thing," Irving said. "The basketball thing is one thing, but peace of mind is everything so I'm happy to see him out there today."
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