Too often, we forget athletes, for all their millions, are human beings. Human beings who, despite their privilege and celebrity, aren’t impervious to criticism, whether it’s a passing insult on Twitter or a jab from a fan seated courtside at FedEx Forum. Memphis point guard Ja Morant didn’t get the reception he was hoping for in his return from a 12-game injury absence Monday night, acknowledging his disappointment at hearing fans suggest the Grizzlies are better off without him.
“I was running down the court and I heard some of my fans courtside tell me I need to sit back out,” said Morant, who contributed 16 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals in the loss to OKC. “Normally—y’all have seen it—when anybody says something negative about me, it fuels me. But tonight, the remarks from fans actually hurt.”
Years ago, ESPN personality Bill Simmons, now of The Ringer, spoke of a phenomenon called the “Ewing Theory” (named after Knicks legend Patrick Ewing), when teams miraculously improve upon losing their best player. That narrative can be applied to the Grizzlies, who won 10 of 12 without Morant including a 73-point blowout of Oklahoma City (the largest margin of victory in NBA history), the team Memphis just lost to.
“When I’m running down the court midgame and hear it from the people that were chanting ‘MVP’ a while ago, it’s frustrating,” Morant expressed to Drew Hill of the Daily Memphian. “It’s a lot, man. I’m excited to be back and I’m thankful for my teammates because they have tried to keep my spirits up and tell me not to worry about what people say. But it’s hard not to see that stuff.”
The NBA has always been a “what have you done for me lately?” league. But has the toxicity of sports tribalism really reached a point where fans, influenced by little more than recency bias and a heightened sense of entitlement, feel comfortable harassing Morant, a 22-year-old phenom on a superstar trajectory?
“We beat this team by 73 and then we lose the day I come back against this team. It’s frustrating. I was already in my head coming back out and trusting my knee after missing 12 games. Basketball is my escape,” said Morant, who announced he's taking a break from social media. “I just don’t understand what [fans] wanted to get out of that. I feel like that just makes it worse.”
Fans turning on Morant for the crime of missing a few games is more than shortsighted—it’s downright mean. And, Teflon as are sports heroes may appear, Morant was clearly wounded by how Grizzlies fans treated him Monday night.
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