I like how the Memphis Grizzlies were trying to justify Desmond Bane's arm here because if you look at Jaren Jackson Jr.'s face, you can see that he feels for Kevin Love.
If a dude whose gray hair is seen at the time he's an active player is mauled in the nuts, I can see why the referees would think this is intentional. Also, the Memphis Grizzlies are controversial these days. They let "locker room leader" Steven Adams talk sense to them to no avail and then the whole Ja Morant situation is bizarre. And then we have Dillon Brooks and Draymond Green out-annoying each other with the media trying their darndest to involve the other players.
I like to think the Memphis announcers are just protecting their players with how "heel-ish" their commentary is but their bad-boy vibes are just insane at the moment.
Also, why is Kevin Love the proverbial Memphis punching bag? This clip will live in infamy and so is the iconic Ja Morant "missed dunk" on him.
With the Ja Morant situation, I think he can change. There are a lot of ways for a brash and cocky 23-year-old to find his bearing in the future but through the years, we have seen his archetype get lost in the spotlight and find their peace after their playing days are over. Morant's style is basically like that of Allen Iverson, Steve Francis, Stephon Marbury, and even Gilbert Arenas (although HIbachi is more James Harden than Morant). These players also had their careers short because they are spending more than they are earning. Most of the players mentioned were able to turn their lives around but all of them had questionable retirement seasons.
I guess the best retirement scenario is that of Marbury, but he did this on foreign soil. Iverson had a Hall of Fame career to at least hide his last two seasons. Arenas is now doing his thing in basketball talk media and Francis is also doing his thing but outside the confines of basketball.
Still, they had a redemption arc because they had questionable stories prior to those events.
Ja Morant and Memphis Grizzlies are finally giving the city the attention they never got even during the Grit and Grind era. However, maybe they need positive attention. What Bane did can be unintentional because, in some ways, the Memphis commentator has a point. Bane was riding his momentum and sadly, Kevin Love's balls got in the way. They need to have less of that as everything they are doing right now is in some sort of proverbial media petri dish.