Skip Bayless suggested there are questions surrounding whether Ja Morant is a member of a gang.
On FS1’s “Undisputed” on Monday, Bayless said that he had NBA connections who question whether Morant, who is away from the Grizzlies indefinitely after flashing a gun at a strip club on an Instagram Live video on Saturday, is merely acting like a gangster or if he might actually be one.
“I’ve called around the league to people I’ve known forever, talking about Ja because I was so shocked about the IG Live, how brazen it was,” Bayless said.
“And I had several people say to me, ‘Well, timeout, are you sure you guys on TV aren’t giving him a pass here, like [he’s] not that?’ They’re asking me, ‘Are you sure he’s not that? Like that’s just who he is — that he is about that life.'”
Morant’s bizarre IG Live video came less than a week after the Washington Post reported that he was accused of flashing a gun at a basketball player with whom he had an altercation at a pickup game, and that mall security had called police and alleged that the NBA superstar had threatened him.
“Remember, he’s thrown up the Crip sign,” Bayless continued. “I’ve seen him throw it up two or three times.
I’ve probably missed some other times. What does that mean? Does that mean he wants to get associated with the Crips, or he got initiated with the Crips, or he just has a dream of being a Crip?
“I don’t know. I’m just throwing this out. Are we missing the boat here that that’s just who he’s been from the start, and we keep saying, ‘No you’re just associating with the wrong people,’ when he’s actually part of the wrong people?”
Bayless’ co-host Shannon Sharpe, who was previously involved in a tiff with Morant’s father Tee during a Lakers game earlier this season, said that he might be “100 percent correct.”
There are a couple videos on YouTube that purport to show Morant appearing to flash a “C” with his hands, which is a signal for the Crips.
Morant was also investigated by the NBA earlier this season after members of the Pacers alleged that his associates pointed a laser at them following a confrontation.
An NBA spokesperson said that the investigation “could not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon.”
“I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies’ organization for letting you down,” Morant said in a statement after the IG Live video went viral. “I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”
Police in Colorado are investigating whether Morant violated any firearms laws in the IG Live video.