NBA player Ja Morant is walking back an anti-police statement he made on his social media platforms.
Twenty-year-old Memphis Grizzlies apologized via Twitter on Sunday, pulling back on his previous anti-police tweets, saying he “didn’t clearly and accurately convey what I wanted to share.” Earlier that same Sunday, Morant reposted an edited a photo of his jersey with the phrase “F**k 12” on it. In his repost on Instagram, the rookie point guard wrote “nah fr tho” in agreement with the edited image. He also posted it on Twitter, writing “want dat on my jersey fr.” Morant’s move comes after the NBA recently announced it would allow players to feature messages on the back of their jerseys, TMZ reports.
It didn’t take long for Morant to receive backlash; hours later, the baller deleted the images and issued an apology. “I want to first apologize for reposting something that didn’t clearly and accurately convey what I wanted to share,” said Morant.” My post was intended to focus on the bad cops who get away with the murder of unarmed Black men and women, and those who continue to harass peaceful BLACK LIVES MATTER protestors.”
He went on to say,” I know there are good cops’ 12′ out there. I know some, and a few are family. I am thankful to the cops at Murray State who took care of me, and the cops who continue to watch over me with the Grizzlies.” Morant said, “We NEED good cops to step up and make sure others cops are not abusing their power.” Lastly, he expressed that justice needs to be served for #BreonnaTaylor, who was murdered by plainclothed police in her own home. “There have been too many Black lives taken by police that could have been prevented, Morant said.” You may see me as just a basketball player, and I may lose fans for taking a stand, but I won’t stay silent.”
The Grizzlies shared Morant’s apology on their social media page.
