"Steph Curry can't carry Warriors anymore" - Jalen Rose on Clippers beat Warriors 134-126

You know who had the best night last night in the entire NBA? That guy, Steph Curry. He was brilliant, but his team can't win on the road. Warriors Clippers could easily be a playoff preview. Warriors down by four, but Steph was brilliant. Look at him there. Now watch this shot he makes. Someone explain to me how Steph Curry makes this go in. He's around, he's down, he's up, that goes in. Curry had 41 through three, but they're down the whole night. The Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, he knocks down a three. He's been playing great. He's got 30 last night, and the Clippers are up double digits. Next, Warriors possession. Steph could not be stopped. Step back three, he answers right back. Four minutes to go. Warriors hanging in there, down by eight. Again, Steph did everything he could. Steph Curry scored 50 points last night, but his team never got there. Paul George, dagger three. He had 24. Clippers win 134-126. The Warriors cannot win on the road. That's their ninth straight road loss. They are seven and 27 on the road this year, and seven of their remaining games, including their next four, are on the road. Warriors right now six in the West, but there are only two games from being 10, which would be the final play-in spot. So we had that, and then yesterday from the NBA, we had this news that the league has suspended Grizzlies star John Morant for eight games for holding a gun at a nightclub in suburban Denver earlier this month. The commissioner, Adam Silver, met with Morant in New York yesterday before announcing that decision. Silver called Morant's conduct, quote, irresponsible, reckless, and potentially very dangerous. After hearing the punishment yesterday, Morant explained to our Jalen Rose what happened with the gun. Well, the gun wasn't mine. It's not who I am. I don't condone any type of violence, but I take full responsibility for my actions. Made a bad mistake, and I can see the image that I painted over myself with my recent mistakes, but in the future, I'm gonna show everybody who John really is, what I'm about, and change this narrative that everybody got painted over me. So Morant has missed the Grizzlies' last six games. All of those count toward the suspension, meaning he's eligible to return Monday when Memphis hosts Dallas Woj told us last night perhaps not to expect him back on the floor quite that soon. Silver, and it was announced that Morant has been suspended eight games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league in connection with a March 4th live stream in which Morant was holding a firearm while in an intoxicated state in a Denver nightclub. The suspension retroactively includes the five games Morant has already missed, so he is eligible to rejoin the Grizzlies in Dallas on Monday. Woj will tell us in a moment not to expect him back so quickly. Commissioner Silver made the following statement. Ja's conduct was irresponsible, reckless, and potentially very dangerous. It also has serious consequences given his enormous following and influence, particularly among young fans who look up to him. 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. Jalen spoke with Ja Morant this afternoon following that meeting. Adam Silver, what was that meeting like? It was good. Pretty much, you know, an open discussion. Obviously, you know, he said, you know, things, you know, I need to, you know, be better at, but, you know, more of just, you know, showing his support towards me. You know, and I accepted that. And, you know, I also, you know, sent my apologies, you know, to everybody, you know, the league, you know, myself, my teammates, my family for, you know, putting that negativity towards, you know, all of us with a, you know, bad decision. You at the spot, shotgun willies. I've been there. You were holding a gun. And we both know how dangerous that can be. Whose gun were you holding? Well, the gun wasn't mine. It's not who I am. I don't condone, you know, any type of violence, but I take, you know, full responsibility, you know, for my actions. Made a bad mistake. And I can see the image, you know, that I painted, you know, over myself, you know, with my recent mistakes, but, you know, in the future I'm gonna show everybody who John really is, you know, what I'm about, and, you know, change this narrative that, you know, everybody got painted over me. In particular, if you don't mind getting into detail, like what were you doing these last 10 days and what did it teach you about yourself? Just learning, you know, I can open up. I can, you know, express my feelings and that it's, you know, okay to be able to express your feelings. So, you know, I was constantly, you know, talking to therapists. I've been doing, you know, Reiki treatment. I've been doing anxiety breathing, you know, different stuff to, you know, help me manage that and, you know, release, you know, all that stuff from my body. Do you take pride in being a role model? I do. And, you know, I realize, you know, I have a lot of kids, you know, who look up to me. Even, you know, probably some adults, you know, a lot of fans and I realize, you know, my past mistakes is in being, you know, a good role model. So, just got to be better in that area, you know, be more responsible, be smarter, and, you know, make better decisions. So that interview is from this afternoon here in New York City and it will air, a longer version of it will air tonight on Scott Van Pelt Sports Center after our NBA doubleheader. You see Michael Wilbon who's with us as promised from Phoenix tonight. But gentlemen, I will start with you. What more can you share with us about your conversation with John? That he was willing to open up about a series of poor decisions. Of course, we're going to highlight what happened in Denver at the strip club with the gun. But over the last couple of years, it's been multiple things that he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was an alleged incident with his sister as it related to volleyball. A situation as related to his mom at the mall. A situation with the Indiana Pacers staff post-game. And so I got a chance to talk to him about those things. I got a chance to talk to him about the alleged gang signs that people said that he throws up when he's out there playing ball. And the main thing I got from him is humility. He's a young person, 23 years of age. And this is the best thing that could have happened to him at this point of his life. All of us have been put in positions to where we need to seek help. But may not do it. He actually did it. And I can tell that he's going to be a better man because of it. And it's going to be a residual effect for the rest of his life. All right, Senator Woj, let me turn to you from the NBA's perspective. What have we heard from them today? We know that the commissioner announced the suspension. What more can you tell us? Well, essentially this became a suspension of time already served. Tonight's the sixth game that he was already scheduled to be out. Two more games before he's eligible on Monday. He wouldn't have played in those two games. He's not in condition to do so. Think you would expect him back in one of those two games against Houston next week at home, not against Dallas on Monday. The NBA could not establish that the gun was John Moran's. He said it wasn't. And that at any point that he had a gun on the team playing in the team facility in an arena would have been a very different kind of punishment if the league had established that. So it essentially becomes $668,000 for John Moran. The final step of the league's probe was him sitting with Adam Silver today, saying the right things, but he is going to be judged on actions moving forward, judged about his willingness to allow, I think, the Memphis organization to help him manage everything he has to manage as one of the faces of the league. I think there may have been a reluctance on his part about that in the past. And I think for this organization, for John Moran, I think moving forward, they've had a player who's been under constant investigation by the NBA. Jalen highlighted a number of those instances. They want this to stop. And they're hoping, they're banking on, that this is a turning point for John Moran, but he's going to decide whether it is or not. So Steve and I, you've had some time to digest now. We watched that interview together just a short time ago. What are your thoughts? Humility is a very, very powerful thing. And clearly he's been humbled. I think we have to walk away thinking about that, the level of contrition that he showed, while we appreciate it and we should. He is 23 years old. He's a young man, but he's still a man. And the reality is, is that one could easily argue that he, along with a cadre of individuals in his life, were feeling themselves. You got a five-year, potentially $231 million contract scheduled to kick in after this season. You had Coca-Cola deals, you had a Powerade deal, you had a Nike deal and all of this other stuff. So the opportunities are boundless, they're endless. And a lot of times when you are successful, first of all, you're going to feel yourself to some degree when you're that young. What makes it worse is when you're surrounded by people who feel it, who are feeling themselves, acting as if they are you, that they have the same perks and the same luxuries and that they've earned it themselves. And when you have those folks in your life, everybody has to check themselves. And not just for yourself, but also for John Moran, because for all intended purposes, he's the mail ticket. And so when you look at it from that perspective, we got to speak in a straight language when it comes to stuff like that. This man is spectacular. He's a future face of the NBA. He's a star right now. He's a box office individual right now. He knows it, everybody else knows it, and the world told him that. And unfortunately it appears when you hear about the sister, the mom, people talk about his dad, stuff like that. Listen, they could very well be innocent in terms of the incidences that they have found themselves in but evidently people knew who they were. And because they knew who they were, that made them a target because it's a way to get to him. You got to see stuff like that. And you don't have to be 30 or 40 years old in the league for 20 years to envision that, to recognize the fact that you have to watch yourself and watch who you keep around you because that's how you insulate and protect yourself from stuff like this. And Michael Wobon again is with us from Arizona tonight. Michael, as you listened to Ja's conversation there with Jalen, what thoughts went through your mind? Well, first of all, kudos to Jalen for getting him to sit and talk about this. And for us to be able to hear it, I'm gonna be a little harsh. I got to hear more than the expression of contrition. And by the way, everything everybody said so far, I hear you, I agree with that because you got to start there. But there better be a real turn in behavior right now. Right now, no more promises. I mean, we've seen a ton of athletes, entertainers, politicians, they can promise, they can express contrition but what's the behavior like? Is he, is John Moran ready to tell people, get out of my life, you're out, you're done now. I've got to take hold of this. Do you realize the money we just talked about with the talk about the launch of a soft drink that ain't out this week? The launch of a new sneaker from Nike that ain't out this week. I know, cause I told my son who's 14 and he's one of the people in this generation to whom John Moran is like a Pied Piper. No, you can't have those shoes. You're not getting those. We're gonna figure out what is going on here with John Moran. So if I'm just one guy telling his kid that, what do you think this cost him? We heard about Woad saying it cost him $700,000 in salary. How about the tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in the soft drink launch and the shoe launch? Really, if it's just that selfish, you need to change your behavior and it's not that selfish. You represent so many other interests and part of that is your own with safety. You did something that could have been much more dangerous to your health and risky. What are you gonna do besides express contrition? And are the Memphis Grizzlies and the NBA, yes. Are they willing to support him at that age? Look, anybody knows you walk into the commissioner's office, whether it's David Stern, who was much more the hanging judge or his successor, Adam Silver, who's done a fine job in this league, regardless of who's sitting there. You're gonna express contrition, now what? What was he gonna do? Roll in and say, hey, I'm here, Adam. What are we doing today? What are we talking about? He started at ground zero, now what? This is on him. It's on the people close to him. It may be on people who need to be a whole lot tougher to say, I'm not your friend today. I'm in your face. And John Moran's not the only one. We've all been there. Everybody on that set has been there. I've been there 23, 24 years old when you needed to be better. It's time for John Moran to be better, right? I'm not talking about basketball. He's great. We already know that. He's first team All-NBA. What about his life? You see what's happened in Georgia and Alabama. We've seen what's going on when young people are not marshaled in the proper direction and made to be accountable and responsible and maybe even fearful. It's time for John Moran to get that now. It's powerfully said. Again, you will be able to see the entirety