Ja Morant calls NCAA weight room disparity ‘disrespectful’

Memphis Grizzlies game leader Jacques Morant recently made his opinion known on a sensitive topic in the news of the moment.

If you’ve been watching the NCAA Tournament this week, you’ve probably read or heard about the differences between the men’s and women’s weight rooms in college basketball.

If not, you can see a very clear difference in a tweet from Sabrina Ionescuformer Oregon women’s basketball player and current member of the WNBA’s New York Liberty.

As you can see in the image, the difference between the two pieces is striking. While the men’s teams have a full-size facility, the women’s weight room looks like a table with yoga mats and a small set of dumbbells.

The disparity is obvious, and for an organization that consistently advocates equal opportunity, it finds itself in a bad situation.

It’s also not as simple as a matter of dollars and cents. Sure, the men’s basketball tournament brings in more money, but women won’t get to that point if you continue to give them the message that they’re not worth as much as men.

Even if the issue of weight rooms does not impact the NBA, the The starting point guard of the Grizzlies weighed in on the issue. This is what he said:

disrespectful ????????‍♂️ come on man . https://t.co/Mxvi6MupXR

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) March 18, 2021

Ja Morant is known for his outspokenness on Twitter, so the fact that he’s making his opinion known on the situation comes as no surprise. In his tweet, Morant says “disrespectful,” followed by a face palm emoji. He goes on to say “come on”, clearly showing his frustration after seeing the footage.

Unfortunately, his opinion is not uncommon. The NCAA has not done a great job of supporting its student-athletes, and while it wouldn’t have taken much effort, it has not been able to fully support its student-athletes.

This is especially troublesome considering that there is a rule requiring equal treatment of men and women in NCAA sports. Here is an excerpt from NCAA.com:

“Title IX requires equal treatment of male and female student-athletes in the provision of: equipment and supplies…”

It is clear that the NCAA has not given student-athletes what they are required to give, so it will be interesting to see how they resolve this situation. Hopefully we can reach a point of complete equality where these conversations no longer need to take place.