Ja Morant Reportedly Believes NBA Is 'Out To Get' Him With His 25-Game Suspension, Which Is A Bad Message

Ja Morant and people close to him believe the NBA, along with the media, are out to get the Memphis Grizzlies' superstar following the league's decision to suspend him for 25 games.

The wait to see what Morant's punishment was going to be for flashing a gun on Instagram Live for the second time in a few months came to an end on Friday. The NBA suspended him for 25 games without pay next season weeks after the Grizzlies immediately suspended him when the second gun video first surfaced in May.

NBA Central reported, via ESPN's Tim MacMahon, that Morant is under the assumption that the league is out to get him and those close to him.

While it's understandable for Morant to be frustrated with the suspension, the report that he and his crew think the NBA is out to get him paints an extremely ugly picture.

If we take MacMahon's report as truth, this sort of quote and narrative coming out of someone even distantly tied to Morant only makes the perception around him that much worse.

READ: NIKE SAYS IT WILL ‘CONTINUE TO SUPPORT’ JA MORANT THROUGH NBA’S 25-GAME SUSPENSION

Shortly after being handed his 25-game suspension Morant issued a statement saying "I'm going to be better" and that he would be spending the offseason and suspension to "work on my own mental health and decision making."

If that's the case then you can't also think that the league is out to get you, or at the very least, you can't let that mindset leak out to the media.

Nobody who works for the NBA forced Morant to grab a gun, twice, and go on Instagram Live.

There is no denying that Morant is now at a crossroads in his career. He either has to decide he wants to be a professional or this series of bad decisions could be catastrophic for his future.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.