Grizzlies' Ja Morant apologizes for explicit message about police

Jordan Heck

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Grizzlies' Ja Morant apologizes for explicit message about police image

Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant apologized Sunday night for a pair of social media posts he sent earlier in the day regarding police.

Morant reposted an image on Instagram Stories that showed him wearing a message that states "F— 12." The last name featured the curse word while his jersey number of 12 remained the same. The phrase is used as a way of saying "f— the police."

Morant reposted the image as a response to the NBA possibly allowing players to wear social justice messages on jerseys. Morant wrote on the IG post "nah [for real though]" and then added on Twitter, "want [that] on my jersey [for real]." Both posts were deleted.

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Several hours later, Morant apologized for his posts saying they "didn't clearly and accurately convey what I wanted to share."

From Morant:

I want to first apologize for reposting something that didn't clearly and accurately convey what I wanted to share. My post was intended to focus on the bad cops who get away with the murder of unarmed Black men and women, and those who continue to harass peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors.

I know there are good cops "12" out there. I know some, and a few are family. I am thankful to the cops at Murray State who took care of me, and the cops who continue to watch over me with the Grizzlies. We NEED good cops to step up and make sure other cops are not abusing their power.

There have been too many Black lives taken by police that could have been prevented. You may see me as just a basketball player and I may lose fans for taking a stand, but I won't stay silent.

Black Lives Matter! Where's the justice for Breonna Taylor? And the other countless innocent Black lives that have been taken at the hands of dirty cops with no convictions?

The NBA has not made an official stance on whether players will be able to wear the names of others this season. NBPA president Chris Paul told ESPN the players' union and the league were collaborating to allow players to wear "jerseys with personalized social justice, social cause or charity messages on the backs instead of their last names during the upcoming restart of the NBA season."

The WNBA's Angel McCoughtry was advocating for the same.

The NBA season restart is scheduled for July 30.

Jordan Heck

Jordan Heck Photo

Jordan Heck is a Social Media Producer at Sporting News. Before working here, he was a Digital Content Producer at The Indianapolis Star. He graduated with a degree from Indiana University.