The Ja Morant PR Challenge

Can House of Strauss Public Relations escape a long suspension?

Ja Morant (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Longtime readers are aware that House of Strauss is a font of free PR advice for our nation’s sometimes sociopathic public figures. Much of the counsel is premised on the DADD (Don’t Apologize, Double Down) principle, which espouses that the best defense requires avoiding apology.

Today, we will take a subscriber’s challenge and act as shepherd to the now-perpetually self-destructive Ja Morant.

DADD is a skeleton key for much of this website because it reveals how media dynamics are not as they seem, or as they should be. Ideally, we’d live in a world where legitimate apology for actual transgressions results in forgiveness and inspires improved behavior. That’s what I want. That’s probably what you want. At scale, though, in this era, apology is, mostly, just a powerful signal of wrongdoing. In our information-inundated landscape, this strong signal is what begets, not ends, the feeding frenzy.

Or, let’s get simpler. The media is predatory, and predators instinctively chase whatever runs away. At this very moment, I’m right next to a trail that mountain lions occasionally frequent. The signs at the entrance warn me of this and tell me that, if I see a lion, DO NOT RUN AWAY. You’re instead supposed to face the predator, get big, look confident, and slowly back away from the scene. You don’t approach the threat, but you certainly don’t crouch. As is true in nature, is true in media: Appear vulnerable and get eaten. We’re just animals who happen to have phones.

And that brings us to Ja Morant, who appears to be squandering massive opportunities either because he feels hunted, or because he wants to be seen as the danger. Over the weekend, he was spotted on Instagram Live, in a car, flashing a pistol a couple months after the NBA suspended him for flashing a gun on IG Live at a Denver strip club. The Grizzlies have subsequently suspended Morant for this latest incident.

Everyone keyed into this situation understands that Morant’s headed down a bad path, one that’s potentially deadly. There have been Ja-involved incidents both violent and thought to threaten violence. The aforementioned Denver strip club episode triggered a police investigation. That prior 8-game suspension ultimately cost Morant a projected $39 million on account of its impact on All-NBA voting. The NBA hoped such a punishment, though light on total games, would be enough to deter future transgressions. Instead, Ja’s made the league, and its commissioner, look indulgent if not foolish. From Adam Silver’s punishment announcement back in March:

He has expressed sincere contrition and remorse for his behavior. Ja has also made it clear to me that he has learned from this incident and that he understands his obligations and responsibility to the Memphis Grizzlies and the broader NBA community extend well beyond his play on the court.

Anyone halfway paying attention could tell that this was ludicrously naive. Morant was listless in his public interviews on the subject and didn’t appear to betray much remorse. He even attributed his reformed ways on, of all things, breathing exercises. Another offense was guaranteed.

I say this to set the stage for my Fake PR advice. The NBA, in partnership with pot-committed Nike, has coddled Morant for past acts, in hopes he’d suddenly wise up and make them billions. Now that this strategy has obviously backfired and embarrassed the NBA’s lead executive, Morant is vulnerable to retributive punishment. ESPN is currently floating the idea of a “lengthy suspension,” and it’s certainly deserved in spirit.

But if I’m Morant’s PR advisor? I’m seeking to mitigate the fallout from another self-inflicted setback. I’m shooting for a suspension of fewer than 15 games if I can manage that. We’d just prefer not to miss another All-NBA team, of course. So here’s the play, according to DADD principles, with a concession to the situation.

Minimization and Mitigation

First off, Morant can’t just be completely defiant. He’s pissed too many people off for that to work. He can, however, cast doubt on the latest premise. In the case of his Denver incident, explanations couldn’t really save him. Morant was in another state, potentially waving a firearm at a public venue. That sort of thing requires police involvement, and public dishonestly might, metaphorically, backfire. But this latest mishap? Flashing a heater in a car is poor form, but not necessarily against the law, depending on when and where. Beyond that … are we confirmed that it’s a real gun? I mean, I’d assume as much, but there’s little incentive for Morant to validate what everyone thinks.

To quote Denzel Washington’s character in Training Day, “It’s not what you know; it’s what you can prove.” If Morant can’t be proven wrong, I’d advise he explain that the gun is a prop and that he and his friend in the car were doing the equivalent of shooting a mini-music video. Is there a specific rule against rapping while holding a prop?

Obviously, it’s tempting fate to try and get away with something so shit-eating. God knows how much the Grizzlies have on their superstar that hasn’t hit the news. This is why, even if he’s not specifically apologizing, Morant should be somewhat conciliatory. Perhaps something to the effect of:

Look, it’s not what people think, since it was only a prop. I understand how it looks, however, given what’s happened. I’ve seen other players pose for pictures with legitimate weapons and assumed that, if I was following the law, there was nothing wrong with my actions. I now see my oversight, though, and I’ll try to do better with the image I project.

That’s how I, at the storied HoS PR shop, would handle this scenario. Reduce the assumed seriousness of the incident, call the assumption of violation into question, and offer something of a concession to the highly offended league office. Will that work? Perhaps not, but I’ve watched enough of these rodeos to understand this much: When you’re cornered as a public figure, apologizing and admitting the truth is usually your worst option.

I’m curious what the subscribers think, though. Is honesty the policy here? Or, through agile misdirection, can you exceed my effort on the Ja Morant challenge?