Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Charles Barkley: Grizzlies star crying for help

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 5/26/23

NBA analyst Charles Barkley made an appearance on the "Pat McAfee Show" on Friday and discussed the Ja Morant situation with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Things escalated again this week when Memphis police performed a wellness check on Morant after a series of social media posts where he expressed love to his family members and then concluded with a message saying "bye."

Those messages have since been deleted, but it continued a concerning trend of behavior from the Grizzlies superstar.

Morant was already suspended eight games during the season after he was seen in a Denver club waving around a gun.

He could be facing another suspension after another Instagram video surfaced earlier this month showing him brandishing a gun while riding in a friend's car.

Barkley said on Friday that he almost broke down into tears when he saw that a wellness check had to be performed on Morant and that he is a young man crying out for help.

You can see Barkley's segment here.

"Ja Morant is crying out for help and I'm really hoping the best for him..

I try and tell all these young guys in the league to surround themselves with the right people"

Charles Barkley #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/ekdKIbIGDL
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 26, 2023

Barkley also went on to say that he expects the NBA to hit Morant with a 20- to 25-game suspension for his latest social media video.

He also talked about the argument that Morant should fight the NBA's suspensions because he did not technically break any laws and that Tennessee is an open carry state. Barkley quickly dismissed that and argued that when you play in the NBA for millions of dollars you have to follow a different set of rules, and the league (and team) can impose any restrictions it wants to protect the business and players.

Morant is one of the best players in the NBA and helped lead the Grizzlies to one of the best records in the league this season, but the off-court distractions have become an issue. He has now put himself in a situation where he might not be available for a significant portion of the 2023-24 regular season.

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