Benny the Butcher has offered up some life advice for Ja Morant as he prepares to return from his 25-game suspension. “I feel bad for him. Honestly, because coming from those type of environments, those types of environments have a very strong hold on us. So when we tend to make it out — making it into this business, I don’t have any friends in this business. All my friends is back in the streets. I made new friends. Sometimes they have a hold on us and certain expectations and peer pressure. They expect us to act one way, even though we made it. Everybody didn’t make it. That’s why my new album is called Everybody Can’t Go, because that’s one of my things: I want to let my boys know I’m not trying to be a tough guy with ya’ll no more. How ya’ll feel about me, I don’t care," Benny began.
However, he wasn't finished. “If you feel like I switched, I changed, I’m not the same no more — you’re right. So as [Ja] gets older he’s gonna realize that I don’t have to feel that survivor’s remorse. He want to keep guys around him that maybe he know that shouldn’t be around him. He don’t want to voice his opinion. It’s hard. I’m 39 years old and some of these things, I just learned them — how to separate my toxic friends from my career because they will bring me down. You gotta be vocal about that," he continued.
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Ja Morant Reflects On Suspension
Meanwhile, Morant recently reflected on the experience of his suspension. Morant said there had been some "horrible days". However, Morant accepted that simply returning to the Grizzlies wasn't going to be enough for a lot of people. "I can't, you know, make nobody believe me outside of my actions. So me answering this question with just words probably won't mean nothing to nobody," Morant told reporters on Friday.
Morant is expected to return next Tuesday against the Pelicans. However, Morant returns to a Grizzlies team in dire straits. Last year's Western Conference second seed is 6-17 and on a three-game losing streak. Their last win was against the even more hapless Detroit Pistons on December 6. Whether Morant can help engineer a turnaround remains to be seen.
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