8/7/2023 0 Comments Log cabin shop musket caps![]() Not only did the NBA need a new crop of superstars to mitigate Jordan’s exit, but it also needed a fresh attitude. How would it continue to fill arenas, satisfy advertisers and spread its vision of a global game without its brightest star? When global sports icon Michael Jordan retired from basketball in 2003, the league found itself in a period of transition. The NBA has long had a fraught relationship with its Black superstars. Even when folks who look like Morant innocuously and legally possess a gun, they find themselves too easily typecast as villains. And yet throughout the nation’s history, gun ownership among Black Americans has elicited fear and recrimination. To many politicians and activists in the gun-obsessed U.S., the freedom to own and flaunt firearms is a sacred right. It was careless, and he could have harmed himself and others.īut as a scholar of Black popular culture, I can’t help but wonder what the reaction would have been if Morant were white. I’m not looking to defend Morant’s behavior. ![]() In response, the NBA suspended Morant for 25 games to start this upcoming season for “engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns.” Then, on May 14, 2023, another Instagram Live video surfaced of Morant holding a gun in a parked car with his friends while dancing to rap music. Though Morant was never charged for a crime, the NBA suspended him eight games for “ conduct detrimental to the league.” Colorado is an open carry state, but it’s illegal to carry a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. On March 4, 2023, Morant posted an Instagram Live video of him displaying a gun at a Denver strip club. With colorfully dyed dreadlocks, an infectious smile and a signature sneaker, Ja represents the next generation of NBA superstars.īut his bursting athletic brilliance, so evocative of Iverson, comes with a cost: the perceived menace of the Black gangster. Today, Morant’s game conjures that of the electrifying Iverson. Ja Morant, the 23-year-old star point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, was barely 1 year old. This was two weeks prior to the 2000-01 NBA season, one in which Iverson would be named league MVP. (THE CONVERSATION) “Man enough to pull a gun, be man enough to squeeze it,” rapped NBA superstar Allen Iverson on his song “ 40 Bars.” ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |