After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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That's BetterHELP.com. Wow, already halfway through the show. And we know the Heat have the kind of chemistry that makes them a better team than their individual parts. All right, so yes, Jimmy Butler's a superstar. Bam Adebayo is a better than average player. Kyle Lowry's got championship experience. So does Kevin Love. They've got a bunch of guys who know their roles. And who are happy to fill them. But those parts, those individual parts, they're not enough to be in a third Eastern Conference Finals in four years.

Nah. They have captured a winning formula. They found the secret to chemistry.

And not only do they believe in each other, they care about each other. And they bought in. They've got a formula. They know their identity. And I love that.

They are comfortable with who they are. And while some of these factors and some of these elements carry a greater weight, depending upon the individual personalities and the team itself, not to mention the leadership, that confidence and that belief that care for one another, that's human nature. When you have that type of relationship with the people around you, the people you work with, heck yeah, there's chemistry. And yet there's no written formula.

You can't measure chemistry with analytics. And that's why it escapes some teams. So we're asking you on this edition of the show, what other pro sports teams can show you the type of chemistry that actually gives them a winning edge?

Like the Miami Heat. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We are slowly making our way into a Thursday morning. Still have one of our time zones in the U.S. straggling behind. But it's light. You'll get there eventually, Hawaii. So on Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page, too, After Hours with Amy Lawrence, on CBS Sports Radio, we are slowly making our way into a Thursday morning, still have one of our time zones in the U.S. straggling behind.

But it's light. You'll get there eventually, Hawaii. So on Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page, too. After Hours with Amy Lawrence, After Hours, CBS. Our phone number, 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Great answers that we've gotten already on both of our social media sites. We'll get to some of those this hour, I promise. Also, I took your advice.

I'll explain, coming up in the next few minutes. But we heard Reggie Miller on the Dan Patrick show with his advice for Ja Morant. I want to let you hear one more voice. And I also think this is a powerful voice, even though we don't hear from him as much as we hear from Des Bryant. We don't have that same kind of constant communication like we do with Reggie Miller anymore, right? Because Reggie's on TV, he's an NBA analyst, he's prominent.

I mean, he's a go-to. Des, we don't hear from as much anymore, but I still think his voice carries weight. It's not as though he's so far removed from the NFL that he doesn't have an impact when he speaks. And because he played for the Dallas Cowboys and because he was so popular and had such great success, a lot of that goes into it.

But also, again, it's because we don't hear from him as much anymore. But he's very passionate. Des has always been very passionate. And he carries that same passion to his Twitter account as he gives his advice to Ja. Everybody adding their two cents on the Ja situation, so I want to add mine. So check this out, Ja.

I know a couple of things for sure. You fill out a W-2 and you pay your taxes and you play for the National Basketball Association. That's your job.

It's like a job, except this job, you love, you grew up playing and you get paid millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars. So with that being said, with this type of job, they have this huge ass brand they love. This huge brand that they protect is this huge brand that influence a lot of kids like yourself and others that want to grow up and play that game one day. So the reason why they've been the way that they are is because they want to protect their brand.

Not only they want to protect their brand, they want to protect your brand. And to Stephen Jackson and to J.J. Riddick, come on, Stephen Jackson, like you just said the other day, you wasn't going to condone this. I'm pretty sure we're really from that.

I'm not saying Ja not. He probably got a little taste of it, but I know we're really from that. So that's kind of, you know, we're supposed to be the leaders and really telling this man the truth. I like that Des wants not only Ja Morant to take accountability. And in pointing out to him that, sure, you represent yourself, but bigger than that, you represent the NBA because you fill out a W-2, you accept a paycheck, you ultimately reflect on the NBA brand with what he called the big ass logo. And I agree that the NBA wants to protect its brand as well as the brand of its athletes, but I would say less so that I wouldn't go as far as Des. I'm not going to be as charitable as Des when it comes to the shield in the NFL, the NBA, whatever league, even MLB. I think these leagues, these front offices, these commissioners, they care far more about protecting their own brand than they do about their athletes, but it is a symbiotic relationship.

It's like the clownfish in the sea anemone. They need each other. The NBA needs its stars. The stars need the platform of the NBA or they're not stars. Well, I suppose you could be a social media influencer these days, but you know what I mean.

And so it's a relationship that can be mutually beneficial but can also and equally so be harmful to both. Ultimately, though, the NBA has the final say. Commissioner Adam Silver has the final say because you are an employee of the National Basketball Association.

There's no way around that. You're not an independent contractor. No, you are an employee of a team that belongs to the NBA, which means like it or not, you have to abide by their rules. In fact, you sign those rules. You're supposed to be familiar with those rules.

You're held to a code of conduct. It's a little bit like the NFL right now with this gambling stuff. You don't have to like the rules. You may think it's ridiculous that the NFL is in bed with all these gambling companies, not just one, not just two, but multiple companies, sportsbooks and gambling partners.

But the rules indicate you can't do it. It doesn't matter what everybody else is doing. You have the privilege of playing in the NFL. And as Des points out, making millions and millions and millions of dollars.

Or was that Reggie? Somebody pointed out to the millions and millions and millions of dollars. Remember when your parents used to tell you, do as I say, not as I do. Oh, my mom actually didn't ever tell me that, but every now and then you'll hear that. I've said that to my students before. Do as I say, not as I do. Of course, it was a joke, but. That is the point.

The NBA, the NFL, the NHL, MLB. They can do what they want. You can't. You abide by a different set of rules. Like every employee in the entire freaking world, we all have rules we have to abide by. If you don't like it. Then don't play in the NBA.

Ultimately, isn't that what it comes down to? If you don't like it. Then take your talent somewhere else. Dwight Howard's recruiting guys for Taiwan. If you don't like it, you don't have to play in the NBA.

It's like me, right? Let's just and I'll just throw this out there. It's conceptual. Do not take it and run with it. Let's just say I don't agree with the politics of a company I work for. And I decide, screw that, I'm going to go on the air with my own politics.

The company tells me not to. They suspend me for saying something they believe is inflammatory because it doesn't represent who they are. And I say, great, I've learned my lesson. I come back, I say the same damn stuff on the radio again. As much as I am my own person, and I will tell you this, you don't have to believe me, people don't believe me, but it's true.

No one tells me what to talk about. However, as I told my students at Syracuse. When you sign up for a job in radio and you work for another company, meaning it's not your YouTube channel. It's not your own personal social media platform. And even then, if you are employed by an actual media company, your social media belongs to them too. Your first responsibility is to your company. And these days more than ever, because of the number of watchdog groups and the number of people that will do anything they can to embarrass a media company, right?

Your first responsibility, your first obligation is to your company. It applies to me. It applies to everyone else at CBS Sports Radio. If I use my personal social media and say something that will embarrass the company, they can fire me with cause. Because all of my public words and posts ultimately reflect on CBS Sports Radio.

And that's Ja Morant. It doesn't matter that he's in the offseason. It doesn't matter that he's on his own time. What matters is that he is still an employee of the NBA and everything he does, even on his own personal social media or the social media of a friend, reflects on his company and his team. He doesn't operate in a vacuum. And you know what? If he wants to, if he wants to do whatever he wants to do without anyone telling him no authority, no accountability, then you're going to have to get out of the NBA.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. A little more with Des and then we'll get to your phone call, Nick. But Des actually points out, too, this is not about right or wrong in terms of the law. This ain't got nothing to do with the law.

This ain't got nothing to do with breaking the law. This got something to do with who he is, what he became and where he trying to go. I see Ja more than just a more than just a superstar basketball player. Like he a king, he a legend for making it where he at because there's a lot of kids who look like us that don't get them opportunities who have that talent.

So he's more than a basketball player. That's why it means so much to me to send this message. Like let's stop having these unnecessary debates and stay on topic. It ain't right Ja. And I support you. So Des responding to J.J. Redick and others, you heard him call out J.J. as well as Stephen Jackson in the last one, the first cut. And this is on his Twitter, Des's Twitter.

He's essentially saying you guys need to get it right. This is not about legality. It's not about the law. And it isn't. In Tennessee, it's not. He didn't break the law.

Unless they find out there were some other elements that we don't know yet, but at least as far as you can tell on the Instagram live post, it's grainy. But that's not enough to charge him with anything because Tennessee doesn't have laws against carrying weapons in your vehicle. But that doesn't matter. This is about Ja repping the NBA. It's about Ja. Not even being out of season for two weeks before he makes the same damn choice that he told us he wasn't going to make. A month ago. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Let's talk to Nick, who's in Baltimore.

I'm 44 years old. And I think a lot of people don't understand what we get lost on this social aspect is a part of the culture that's ingrained now, and it doesn't always overflow with all the other rules and things in life. And also with social media, it's like, you know, entertainers want to be athletes. Athletes would be like, they would have like a brand. They would be entertainers.

So I think there's these whole, I think there's all these overlying, underlying integrated things within. Like, John Murray might be a great guy, you know, he just makes stupid decisions. And I think a lot of people, entertainers, athletes, it just happens. And they just don't think.

To be fair, Nick, every human on the planet makes stupid decisions. Absolutely. So it's not just entertainers and athletes.

There's just happened to be more high profile because of the spotlight that they're in. However, all of that to be said, Ja needs to have people around him who either help him to make better decisions or tell him when he is about to get woefully out of these rules and the guidelines that are set for him, not only by the NBA, by the Grizzlies. It doesn't matter what the culture is. No one is simply a product of their culture. We all have brains. We all can make choices.

He just went to counseling to get help for dealing with stress. He's the one who already got a second chance for this same choice. So yeah, you can blame it on social media culture. And I get that's how young people grow up now. But it doesn't mean that he can't make his own decisions.

He's a grown man. No, absolutely. I totally agree with you. But I'm just saying, these athletes, these people are all young, and it's a totally different world that we were raised in. They don't realize the concept of posting a video. That's as normal to them as when we were kids making a phone call.

And I don't think they really get the consequences or the influence that they have, especially as athletes and entertainers sometimes when they're doing these things. That's all I'm trying to say. Okay. Well, that maybe worked. Thank you, Nick.

I appreciate it. That maybe worked for Ja's first choice in the nightclub in Denver or the other issues that we've heard about with him. Remember, someone showed up at his house and they chased him with a gun. I don't remember exactly what it was, but there's another weapon that he chased somebody off his property with a gun. Then there was that whole issue with the laser pointer in the arena with the pacers. He's accused of beating up a young boy at a mall too, something like that. And so there's now a series of really bad decisions.

But this one is inexcusable. Because just a month ago, he sat in front of the commissioner. They had a conversation about it. The commissioner listened to what Ja had to say.

The commissioner believed that Ja would not make the same choice again. He just went through this. You can't say he stumbled into something that he's never done before. Or whoops, I didn't realize the impact.

Of course you do. You just did it a month ago and the entire world went crazy. You were in the spotlight and your team was in the spotlight. The NBA was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. I get that people have short term memory problems, but not that short. There's no way that Ja could have forgotten about what happened in Denver. There's no way that Ja could have forgotten the impact and the fallout from his choice in Denver. There's no way. He did it again on purpose. I don't know why.

I do not understand it for the life of me. And I'm not telling you I don't make stupid choices because I do. I'm really glad there was no social media around when I was making stupid choices. When I was younger, I caused myself and other people a bunch of heartache for my stupid choices. I've said things that I'm so glad are not on a recording.

I've done things that I'm so glad there aren't photos of. All of us make stupid choices a lot of the times when we're younger. But there's no way that he walked into this, wandered into this, meandered into this unknowingly.

There's no way. He did not think about what happened in Denver when he flashed that gun in a car in Tennessee. He's not a dumb guy. He's smart.

But even if he is dumb, there's no way he could forget. You can find me on Twitter, A Law Radio, and our Facebook page too. Coming up, I took your advice. We're going to lighten the mood a little bit. I took your advice.

Also, what other teams out there have the same kind of chemistry as the Miami Heat because it gives them an edge? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. That's S-E-E-W-H-Y.

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This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Not sure if you all saw the Ja Morant statement, but there was one in the last 24 hours, which I want to include since we've been talking about his choices and this repeat offense. Same thing.

Almost the exact same thing. Via Adrian Wojnarowski, who's the great NBA insider, Ja Morant says this. Now this is in the wake of Adam Silver saying he was shocked when he saw the latest video in the car in Tennessee with a grainy jaw waving a gun again.

I think there was music and they were singing along to rap lyrics. But the Grizzlies have already taken the drastic step of suspending Ja from all team activities. And the NBA is expected to—now this is sources, so believe what you will, take it with a grain of salt. The NBA is expecting or is expected to suspend him for a lengthy, a lengthy term following this second offense that's pretty close to what we saw a month ago.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Scotty sends this tweet, A Law Radio. Adam Silver needs to hire Roger Goodell as a consultant for the Ja Morant case. Oh, could you imagine?

Could you imagine the uproar for that? I know you're being tongue in cheek. Les says this on Twitter. Some say others aren't treated so strictly as Ja, but Ja doesn't take that stand. He agrees he must improve. So the argument is not with the Grizzlies or the NBA.

Now actions need to Trump talk. And then he says we're Grizzlies fans. So that's coming from a Grizzlies fan. I can imagine the disappointment among Grizzlies fans. And how about his teammates? You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of the situation with Fernando Tatis.

Right? Last year, a series of bad choices that ultimately kept him away from the Padres for an entire year. Not only did he get hurt engaging in activities he was not supposed to, he hid it from the team in the offseason. He didn't get the surgery when he was supposed to because he was worried about telling the team why he was hurt. So then he's out.

And while he's out, he uses PEDs and gets suspended. And there are his team, his teammates, sorry, like Manny Machado, calling for accountability with Fernando Tatis. We are better off without him. I don't remember who, was it Ted Musgrove that said that?

It was one Padre that said we're better off without him right now. We can't have that here. We need to be able to trust him. How many times did trust come up?

This reminds me a lot of that situation. Now Tatis is back with the club. They've accepted him. That's what teammates do. Especially when you're paid to play, you don't necessarily get to choose who your teammates are.

Zach Wilson and the Jets. But they want to trust him. In that case, his teammates now, and I get it, they're going through a bit of a transformation. But his teammates at Memphis need to trust him.

I can imagine they feel pretty let down and betrayed, not just once but twice now. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We'll get to some of your calls and comments following the update.

Two things I want to tell you actually, since we're here at the bottom of the hour with a couple of minutes. I texted with John Kincaid on Wednesday. For those of you who don't know who John is, he's a long time colleague and ally of mine. He's not here on CBS Sports Radio anymore, but he used to do Sunday mornings on CBS Sports Radio. He and I also worked together at our previous network. He was in Atlanta.

He was a long time host in the Atlanta sports market. Recently went back to his hometown, I think three years now maybe, has been in Philadelphia. He is taking a leave of absence right now because he is battling colon cancer. And he released it, I'm not telling you anything that you can't find out from John directly. He released a video or put out a video last week sharing this personal news. And Monday he had surgery.

Again, he also shared this, so I'm not telling you anything that you can't find out from him. Of course, it's tough for him to be away from his morning show on 97.5 The Fanatic because a radio host is who he is. But he's also a two-time cancer survivor even before he was diagnosed with colon cancer.

He's got his wife and his daughter with him. And he told me last week, I'm going to make so many people proud when I beat this cancer again. And I said, no doubt, for the zillionth time in your life, people will be proud of you. And I didn't want to text him right away on Monday because I wanted to give him some time. And I told him previously that I was praying for him and his family and I would be checking in. So I texted him on Wednesday and he is home. They released him to rest and recover at home, which is amazing. His family is there, obviously. And I just keep telling him I'm praying and I'm going to keep checking on him. And this was a huge hurdle in the review mirror for John. Long way to go still, but I just wanted to pass along the news that he is home after his surgery on Monday.

And he texted me back. He's in good spirits because that's John. So I hope that you'll join me in praying if you believe in the power of prayer. I certainly do. I know John does. And it was good to hear back from him that he is home following the surgery and he is recovering.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. All right, one more thing, and this is because you all gave me the recommendation. I saved my coffee grounds. These are used, not fresh. I saved my coffee grounds from my cold brew maker over the weekend. And on Wednesday, when I had to water my flowers, because we're in a stretch now of two weeks without rain, supposed to get some Saturday, but the flowers need the rain and they need the watering when there's no rain. So I took a cup and a half of coffee grounds. I poured them, sprinkled them. However, I chucked them. I actually chucked them.

I didn't pour them delicately. I chucked them onto the base of the rose bush that I've got in my backyard. It's a bush, except that it's a climbing rose. So it's a long and lean bush, if you will. It's a Victor Wenbunyama bush.

It's long and lean. Anyway, it's reaching up to the sky and apparently the coffee grounds increase the acidity in the soil and acidity in the soil makes roses happy. You all gave me this advice. I went ahead and put the coffee grounds down and then watered it like a lot of water because I heard that you're supposed to be like one cup coffee grounds, one gallon of water.

So I was out there with the hose after I laid the coffee grounds, chucked the coffee grounds, and the soil got a lot darker. I'll say that. I'm excited to see what happens here. I'm a little bit worried about killing my rose bush.

She's kind of delicate. But some of you have responded and said, that's not going to happen. I've tried it. You're all good.

It'll be great. Others of you have recommended rose peels. No, I'm sorry, banana peels for my roses. I'm going to retweet this on my Twitter A-LOL radio. You'll see what I wrote about it earlier. But yes, thank you for your suggestions and for the confidence that you gave me to use coffee grounds.

Always carry the coffee. From my rose. We'll see. I'll take photos. I've got a before photo.

I'll send you an after photo or I'll share an after photo with you if it works. All right. Got to go record my CBS Sports Minute on Twitter or Facebook. Your response is about the chemistry. Miami Heat type chemistry.

Where else do we see it in sports? And Ted, we will get to your phone call as well. It's After Hours, CBS Sports Radio, you are listening to the After Hours podcast. Save lives. Donate today at your local C.S.L.

Plasma Center and be rewarded for your generosity. Obviously, you know, I made mistakes in the past that, you know, caused a lot of negative attention, not only to me, but my family as well. You know, my team, the organization. I'm completely sorry for that. So, you know, my job now is, like I said, to be more responsible, more smarter and, you know, don't cause any of that anymore.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. John Morant, going back to the first time that he had to. I want to say pay, because that's a that's a weird way to put it. He had to suffer the consequences of his choices. Right. And it certainly was suffering. I mean, he was not only blasted all over sports radio and TV. He was suspended. He lost money. He went to counseling. He had to talk about it. He got questions asked about it. And remember, he made that joke in the playoffs about the pedestal that you all put me on. Oh, so snarky. And now here he is.

After claiming that he was going to be better, he was going to make smarter choices, he was going to be accountable, he was going to show better leadership. It's days after the season is done and it's almost a repeat. Not quite, but pretty damn close. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Ted is waiting in Boise. Ted, welcome to After Hours. Hi, how are you doing tonight, Amy?

I'm good. Thank you, sir. Hey, so I was in law enforcement for thirty one and a half years. And if I would have done something like he did, I would have been fired.

And I now do security contracting. And the same thing if I represent a small company. But if I did something like that, I'd be fired. His actions are they speak much louder than his words. And his conduct is detrimental to the NBA, to his team.

And it's not only that, it's detrimental to all the good citizens that own firearms and handle them responsibly. So I just I can't see how they can let him either suspend him for a year because his actions are louder than his words and his words are useless at this point in time. They don't they're meaningless or either get him out of the NBA because it's not good. It's not good news for the NBA or his team.

I would agree that right now it's an embarrassment on the league as well as the Grizzlies, which is why they've suspended him indefinitely from all team activities. The thing about pro sports, except for in the NFL, and there is guaranteed money in the NFL, but every other sport has fully guaranteed contracts. So unless now and the players union is also pretty powerful, too, right? The players union would push back on any attempt to, as you say, fire him, but any attempt to kick him out because he's got a fully guaranteed contract and the players have rights as well. And so I do agree with you that there's going to be a lengthy suspension and it will be an unpaid suspension.

So they will hit him where it hurts. The players union will likely try to negotiate some kind of a settlement or some kind of an agreement so that it's maybe not quite as lengthy as what the league would like. But under that umbrella though, Ted, the Grizzlies have a choice to make, right? The Grizzlies could easily cut him if that's what they wanted. Now there's guaranteed money still in the contract and they would still be on the hook for that unless they can prove that his conduct violated the contract. But they could also try to trade him, right? So if the Grizzlies decide this one's counter to who they are and that they're done dealing with this, they within the confines of the NBA can say, somebody else take him because we don't want him anymore. Do you know what his contract is, the guaranteed money on his contract by chance?

Well, I will look it up and I don't want to do it while I'm talking to you just so I'm not distracted. But when I say NFL contracts, they're not fully guaranteed, right? NBA contracts are fully guaranteed, every last penny. So even if a player retires sometimes, there might be buyouts because the money's still guaranteed. And so it's similar to Major League Baseball where every last dime of that money is guaranteed. Even if a player gets injured, if it happens when he's playing the sport, he still gets the money.

So that's one of the things that NFL players look at the NBA and they're like, what? Because the money, you get all of it unless, again, the less would be, the caveat would be if the team or the league can prove that he violated his contract with some type of action, maybe an activity that is specifically written in there, right? So there could be clauses in the contract. There's always behavioral clauses. The issue is that the players union will say, no way can you avoid his entire contract over something like this. Suspend him, sure, but you can't just kick a guy out of the league and void his entire contract for this.

So they would give pushback, too. Yeah, well, I understand that. I just think, I hope that the Grizzlies and I hope the NBA take this serious more than they have in other instances because his actions over the last several months are just detrimental. Well, true, not only to the league and to the team, but how about to Ja? To get away with it or to allow him to get away with it does not do this young man any favors.

It does not at all. He needs to know that there are consequences and that if he goes and makes a stupid choice like this again after he stared the commissioner in the face and took responsibility, that the consequences are compounded. That's real life, number one, but that's also a life lesson that he desperately needs. He desperately needs it.

Yes, he does. Well, I thank you for taking time to speak with me. It's the first time I've ever called in, and I enjoy your show. Thank you, Ted, and thank you for your service in law enforcement. I appreciate it.

You betcha. Good to hear from Ted in Boise, and he's right, and I know there are a lot of people who feel the same way. Come on, if I did this, I would be fired on the spot, which that applies to me, too.

I would be fired on the spot. Again, the guaranteed contracts, the fact that there is a players union that's so powerful, that's not likely to happen, but I wonder if the Grizzlies will make a move. Maybe they'll decide that this is not what they want for their culture, and think about Memphis.

Think about some of the unrest, societal, political, just think about some of the events, some of the tragedies that have taken place in Memphis in the not-too-distant past. They may decide that this is not who they want to be, and that they want to disassociate themselves from this young man. So the Grizzlies can make their own choice. The NBA Players Association, though, would push back, and I'm not telling you that the NBA PA is supporting Ja's behavior, no, but what the unions do is they push back because they don't want a precedent on the books. If this happens, let's just say for the extreme, the sake of argument, that somehow the NBA found a way to kick him out, or to void his contract, okay, so kick him out is extreme, but to void his deal because they believe, and maybe it would absolutely go to court, they believe that they found a loophole in his contract where because of his conduct and his choices, they can void his deal. If the NBA Players Association takes them to court and loses, guess what there is now? A precedent. There's a precedent, a powerful one, that the NBA Players Association does not want on record. They have to push back. Even if they don't support Ja, they're worried about this becoming a precedent for other players moving forward.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. According to Ja's research, he still has another $194 million guaranteed on his contract. The 194 million reasons why he is, and that of course doesn't account for the money that he will lose by being suspended. He is going to get suspended.

There's no way around that. The NBA PA, I wouldn't even think, would want to fight a suspension. Now they may fight the length of it, just on precedent, but they're not going to be able to get Ja off scot-free, nor would the union want to. That's also a bad precedent. And think about it, as much as the NBA has a culture, and they're attracting, they want to attract more and more young people, if I remember correctly, the NBA has the youngest average age among the fan bases of the four major professional sports. It's not that much younger, but it is significantly younger. And the NBA, that sounded like I contradicted myself, it is significantly younger.

It's not like decades younger than the NFL, but it's a few years. The NBA certainly does have a culture, and they pride themselves on being front line, if you will, on social issues, front line on some political issues, they pride themselves on being able to be hip and cool, and their social media footprint is enormous. You know what they don't want? To look like they're supporting any type of this culture, right, a rap culture, a gang culture, and I'm not saying that Ja's in a gang, I'm just saying that waving guns around, you see that.

You see that in other industries with a specific type of culture in music and entertainment. They don't want that to be their MO. They don't want that. That's not who Adam Silver wants the league to be associated with, okay? I mean, again, they pride themselves on being front and center when it comes to societal issues, and how often do we have the debate over gun control? How often do we have the two political parties lining up on either side?

And it's not to a man, it's not to a woman, just, you get what I'm saying. The NBA prides itself on being a voice, right, a powerful voice in that arena. That would run contrary to what the league wants to do, and how the league wants to portray itself, and the message the league wants to send, the brand that the league wants to protect. So Ja definitely has a suspension coming, just a matter of how long. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity.