Former Cowboy Dez Bryant is no stranger to controversy.
Now retired, Bryant is trying to put his acquired-wisdom to use and play the role of mentor to troubled NBA star Ja Morant.
Morant has been through a rash of off-court incidents during the past year and many are worried that he’s headed down a dark path.
The latest incident came while partying at a club over the weekend where he inexplicably flashed a gun in a bragging fashion on his Instagram Live.
The video quickly went viral.
Bryant took the opportunity to tweet a message of advice to Morant…
“if you know and love @JaMorant put your arms around him and tell him the truth… I don’t care if you was to say it’s no foul play to having that gun on your live that’s a no go!….it’s kids especially black kids with dreams living in poverty who love basketball trying to make it out.. you are special boss.. f*ck that dumb sh*t… you are a role model regardless if you see it or not…your name hold weight.. make peace with whatever problems you are dealing with and elevate.. all love on this end.”
Here is the original video if you haven’t seen it yet…
Grizzlies star Ja Morant was allegedly seen showing off a gun on his IG Live this morning.pic.twitter.com/HlhvoWlnYy
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 4, 2023
Social media reacted to Bryant’s advice…
“Thank you for saying this. Im from Memphis and love ja morant. He has special talents. When you make money like this . You have to move different. And sometimes that mean you can’t take your friends with you. It’s all about your character and brand.”
I'm in South Africa and alot of of young kids look up to Ja Morant so its kinda disappoint ing for him to have a good thing going and act in a way that contradicts him just hope he turn back before its too lste
— Jamie (@Jay_OFTW) March 5, 2023
“Lebron or Steph Curry need to reach out to lil bro , hell even a Matt Barnes or Iverson I’m sure they have plenty of stories n experience they can share n walk him thru this bc he crashin out.”
Facts, important of veterans in locker rooms is important..!
— mili (@ManzilaLome) March 5, 2023
“brotha Don’t f up your blessings. We’re the 1% of people who make it as athletes & you’re in the 1% of that group I learnt my lesson the hard way tryin to prove myself to people that don’t matter & died cause of it – don’t let that happen to you too it ain’t worth it g”
It's more like he's part of the 1% of the .0000000001% that is the odds of being a pro NBA player on this planet. You're exactly right dude needs to be smarter.
— Brian Yeazel (@BRIANY3AZ3L) March 4, 2023
“Isn’t that his dads job? Instead of sitting courtside acting like a celebrity with his sunglasses on maybe he should invest more into his son so he doesn’t end up in situations like this.”
BINGO
— Benson Dingo (@TracyMcshady3) March 5, 2023
“Memphis need to get some veteran leadership in that locker room.”
Who exactly do you think he's going to listen to? pic.twitter.com/P06aANdpqu
— The b is still silent (@omegaichiban) March 5, 2023