NLE Choppa has reportedly lost out on a major deal with Powerade due to the drama surrounding Ja Morant’s recent nightclub gun incident.
The Memphis Grizzlies point guard has been embroiled in controversy since he posted an Instagram Live video of himself brandishing a gun on camera at a Denver strip club earlier this month, which also subsequently landed him an eight-game suspension.
TMZ reported that NLE’s “Mo Up Front” was supposed to lead Ja and Powerade’s “What 50% More Means” upcoming campaign, but the ad has now been scrapped.
Apparently, the spot was intended to highlight the NCAA’s March Madness tournament. Sources told the outlet that while Choppa is disappointed that the commercial placement didn’t work out, he’s still a fan of the basketball player.
Despite Choppa’s reluctance to take issue with Morant’s recent behavior, Cam’ron recently slammed the 23-year-old ball player and claimed that he’d fallen victim to “Garry Coleman syndrome.” On the latest episode of his sports talk show It Is What It Is, Cam and special guest Ma$e reflected on the trouble the point guard has landed himself in over the last few months.
Prior t0 this incident, Morant had been conducting himself with behavior detrimental to the team such as allegedly beating up a teenager and members of his crew threatening people involved with the Indiana Pacers. Several outlets reported the 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year had begun a “healing process,” but Cam and Ma$e struggled to understand what the basketball star needs to heal from.
“The fuck is a healing process?!” Cam asked as Ma$e laughed. “See, you know what happens on some G shit, and I’m not being funny or none of this shit because they’ll say we insensitive because we grew up in another era.
“N-ggas gotta stop playing with this mental health shit, for real. When n-ggas get in trouble and n-ggas ain’t doing shit right, n-ggas is running to that. ‘You know what? I bugged out and my brain ain’t working right.’”
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Ma$e chimed in and said employers aren’t supposed to be giving large amounts of money to people who suffer from mental health issues. He also believed Morant’s goal is get out of the league to “make it in the hood” — a reversal of the path often pursued by young men in America.
Cam’ron then attributed that mindset to something he calls the “Gary Coleman Syndrome,” referencing the late Diff’rent Strokes actor. According to Killa Cam, it’s a term to describe people who receive a ton of money at a young age but don’t know how to act.
“I call it the ‘Gary Coleman Syndrome,’” Cam explained. “He never played sports, but I call it the Gary Coleman Syndrome. It’s when you get money at a young age, and you got more money than the n-ggas around you, so when the older n-ggas around you got some knowledge, you don’t wanna hear that. You only listen to the n-ggas that be like, ‘Word, you doing the right thing.’
