‘You see how easily your whole life can be taken away’: Gilbert Arenas offers advice for Ja Morant

Gilbert Arenas has said many times before that he would’ve wanted to have more experienced players counseling him during his controversial career, so he’s always taken the responsibility himself to advise younger talents. 

The thing is, the former Wizards star knows a thing or two about getting in trouble in the NBA, and he might just be the perfect person to deliver some words of wisdom for Ja Morant.

Now that the Memphis star is officially back in the league after receiving a 25-game suspension for flashing a firearm twice on social media this year, he needs to stay concentrated on playing the best basketball as possible.

There’s no doubt the 23-year-old is extremely talented, as he proved in this Tuesday’s victory against the Pelicans, which saw him drop 34 points including the game-winner. The question is, is Ja mature enough to stay away from stardom’s distractions?

Arenas spoke directly to the Grizzlies guard on his latest episode of “Gil’s Arena,” right before the player’s seasonsdebut. He told Ja to “grow with every experience you encounter” because if not, he could eventually lose his entire career due to poor decisions.

“You see how easily your whole life can be taken out of your hands,” Arenas expressed, saying that Morant won’t receive too many more chances after this and should take the necessary steps to avoid it happening again.

Back in the day, Gilbert was suspended for most of the 2009/10 NBA campaign, after violating the league policy on guns. Unfortunately for him, his career was never the same after that episode.

Once the commotion was over and the All-Star was back on the professional courts, he bounced around a couple of franchises and even played basketball abroad, but he was never able to get his career back on track.

Arenas thought the next face of the NBA was ‘supposed’ to be Ja Morant, but now he thinks Ant-Man ‘might get it’

The ex-Washington player once thought that Ja Morant could eventually become the next face of the NBA, as he believes that big men will hardly achieve this status because it is so difficult to relate to them. He believes that’s why Stephen Curry is so loved by all.

However, “Agent Zero” says the Grizzlies player lost his chance with his latest suspension and Anthony Edwards might be up for it. “The problem is Ja Morant is supposed to be there, but Ant-Man might get it… He’s funny; he can hold his own. I wouldn’t be mad if the league just said we are going to run with him because we can’t give it to Ja because of everything,” Arenas said.

Gilbert Arenas Speaks On The News About Anthony Edwards pic.twitter.com/xcJRrZCbIo

— For Da Record (@ForDa_Record) December 19, 2023

The real problem for the Minnesota player is that he recently got into trouble for allegedly offering a woman money to abort his baby. The scandal is still fresh so we must be patient to see what the NBA decides to do.

Gilbert then said that if Morant comes back stronger than ever, there’s still a chance he will dominate the league for years to come. “But if Ja comes out averaging 30 and then next year 30, 32, the world just automatically going to gravitate,” he said on his podcast.