Ja Morant as flashpoint

Intro.

Ja Morant’s freedom and assertiveness are what draw eyes on the court. He can seemingly be anywhere he wants to be with the basketball. He has a fierce disregard for gravity — rims too for that matter. He may even Jedi Mind Trick a referee or two. From a purely basketball standpoint, he has the look and feel of franchise’s chosen one, even if he’s maybe not the Chosen One. The ceiling is high, very high, is all I’m saying.

How this all carries off the court has in recent days, weeks, months, depending on when you want to start the timeline, is something of another matter.

What’s unclear is whether Ja has or hasn’t gotten away with anything more than what Bob Cousy couldn’t imagine. The rap sheet of allegations has moved beyond fundamental concerns about whether Ja’s handle is too often underneath the ball’s equator, allowing him to move the ball from Point A to Point B without dribbling, and is now firmly planted in the dark recesses of the American psyche — our collective fascinations and fears concerning competing definitions of Blackness; the nexus of fame, vulnerability, and everyone else; and the consistent flashpoint of gun violence that is the 21st Century’s seemingly enduring headline.

I.

Ja, once lightning in a bottle for the Memphis Grizzlies, is now a lightning rod for personal…