It is word against word and it is not certain that the images can arbitrate the protagonists. Tonight, in defeat at OKC, Ja Morant was sent off after picking up two technical fouls eleven seconds apart.
The first is logical. While he considers that the referees forgot to whistle a foul on him, Morant voluntarily fouls to stop the game, and he will complain. The technique makes sense.
While the Thunder are on the line, Morant continues to chat with referee Ray Acosta, then he approaches a female spectator and they exchange a few words. And that’s where he gets a second technique! In the referees’ report, it is written that Morant was sanctioned ” for questioning the integrity of a referee”.
The Grizzlies point guard assures that he neither insulted the referee nor made other derogatory comments. “I took my first technique for saying I got shot in the f***ing…head. I didn’t insult him. For the other, I take a technique while chatting with a fan. I have a feeling that when fans come and buy their tickets online, it’s not to see Ray Acosta…”
Surprised to be expelled, Morant took it with a smile, admittedly yellow. He asked for explanations, and the spectator even defended him. But the referee in question felt that Morant was mocking him.
“They come to support us. They come to see us play,” continues Morant. “I don’t care if I get fined. No doubt he (the referee) doesn’t like me…”
Become in spite of it, the star of the meeting, this spectator is called Lisa. Resident of OKC, she is an unconditional fan of Morant, and she had therefore offered herself a place near the field to see her idol.
“I just said to Ja, ‘Come on!’ » she says in The Oklahoman. “He turned to me, and he made me understand that he couldn’t do much because the referees had forgotten to whistle. »
This spectator recognizes that Morant may have used more “flowery” words, and the referee simply heard them. She blames herself for having caused the expulsion of her favorite player, but she has not lost everything…
After the game, Morant’s father approached her, and he passed her his phone. At the end of the line, in video, the leader of the Grizzlies who thanks her for having come to support her, and assure her that he does not blame her.
This is Lisa, a Ja Morant superfan who lives in OKC. She was at the center of the interaction that got Ja Morant ejected.
“I was just telling Ja, ‘let’s go.’
“He was just like he can’t do much because (the refs) missed a call.” pic.twitter.com/KkZqQcIBiR
—Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) December 18, 2022
| Ja Morant | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2019-20 | SAME | 67 | 31 | 47.7 | 33.5 | 77.6 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 7.3 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 17.8 |
| 2020-21 | SAME | 63 | 33 | 44.9 | 30.3 | 72.8 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 7.4 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 19.1 |
| 2021-22 | SAME | 57 | 33 | 49.3 | 34.4 | 76.1 | 1.4 | 4.4 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 27.4 |
| 2022-23 | SAME | 23 | 33 | 45.7 | 34.7 | 73.8 | 1.4 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 7.9 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 27.6 |
| Total | 210 | 32 | 47.2 | 33.0 | 75.2 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 7.2 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 0.3 | 21.9 | |
