Kyrie Irving has thrown his support behind Ja Morant following a perceived “overload of judgement” after his eight-game suspension from the NBA.
Morant sat out Monday’s 112-108 Memphis Grizzlies win over the Dallas Mavericks despite being available to play after his ban elapsed.
The Grizzlies guard had spent time away from the Grizzlies after he was engulfed in controversy when he appeared on an Instagram Live video handling a gun in a Colorado nightclub.
“I believe any hardship in life builds character,” Irving told reporters after the game.
“When you’re dealing with particular hardships in the public eye, especially with the media being attracted to just keeping up with what were doing, or what’s the next kind of grab or story.
“I don’t want to assume anything by every media member, but that’s just the way it seems for me and my perspective, which is there was an overload of judgement on Ja.
“There was an overload of judgement on what I had going on, and there’s usually an overload of judgement from the public court of opinion.”
Irving and Morant embraced after the game, where the latter was in evidence on the sidelines for the first time since the initial incident.
“There’s a real human being dealing with emotion,” he said.
“I care about that aspect. That’s where I’m putting my energy.
“I wished his family well wishes, I wished him well wishes, and I just pray for his peace of mind.
“I was happy to see him out there today, and I just want him to make it through. He has a long career ahead of him. I don’t think anybody should be controlling but him.”
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