When it comes to social media, Ja Morant may very well be the Bill Belichick of the NBA.
The Memphis Grizzlies star made some headlines last week by choosing to deactivate his social media accounts on X and on Instagram. Speaking on Tuesday to Drew Hill of the Daily Memphian, the Memphis Grizzlies star Morant opened up about the decision. Morant said that he hated social media and added that he would be disappearing from social media altogether once retired.
“Yeah, I hate it there,” said Morant of social media. “The only reason I’m on it still is because I have endorsements and stuff I gotta post. I don’t really want to be on there. Hopefully y’all enjoy it now because when I hang it up y’all won’t see me no more.”
The 25-year-old Morant has almost 10 million followers on Instagram and roughly 3 million more on X. But it turns out that none of that really matters to him, aside from business and endorsement motivations.
It is hard to blame Morant for his stance since he regularly receives a lot of toxicity on social media. Down to 20.5 points per game this season on a career-low 44.1 percent shooting, Morant is often the target of online criticism, including from the Grizzlies’ own fanbase. Even Morant’s posts on social media that have nothing to do with basketball sometimes draw scrutiny and mockery.
Of course, some of that scrutiny is Morant’s own fault because his lengthy history of off-court problems has only increased the microscope on him. But the moment that Morant is no longer obligated to be on social media, it sounds like he plans to disappear from the online world altogether.
