It is stupid for Ja Morant to flash firearms during Instagram Live sessions, but he did it twice anyway. From a moral perspective, that’s about as far as the story goes here. There are reports of alleged criminal behavior, the veracity of which is unknown and unknowable to us as media and fans, and really the domain of the American legal system—which, for what it’s worth (and you’re forgiven if you think that isn’t much) hasn’t convicted him of anything. A gobsmacking 25-game suspension for his P.R. mis-steps has been served, and Morant is back on the court, with no new information about his behavior off the court added to the record.

The media’s pathologizing of Morant, however, is far from over. Seemingly a large part of the editorial agenda for the sport’s major coverage partners, finger-wagging in the 24-year-old’s direction resumed just as soon as his participation in NBA contests did. Following a game-winning crunch time flourish in his first night back, Morant uttered the kind of “and I took that personally” language that is tantamount to saying hello in his profession, and was hotly criticized for it by the professional yelling buffoons in all the next morning’s unfortunate sports analysis/spiritual garbage programs.

Among the unforgivable acts supposedly committed by Morant was the aforementioned utterance; he “kept receipts,” he said moments after his sensational play, offering no further context. But there was also the fact that his father, omnipresent at his games, was once again seen at courtside, along with one of Morant’s close personal friends. The behavior that these two display, along with other members of Ja's entourage, is unacceptable to these yelling men, for reasons that have not yet been provided. They are too bodacious to be depicted on television, is what one would have to assume from the wounded screeds these men offer, despite the speed-of-light streams of bull coming out of their own mouths on live broadcasts, which damage the collective intellect on a scale that is difficult to describe or comprehend. In a better world, these shows would be meaningless, but a world broken enough to birth them in the first place is one that will, among other things, over-scrutinize the minutiae of Ja's day-to-day behavior.

Morant, any close follower of his career would have to deduce, is not an entirely healthy young person in either his head or his heart. It is difficult, if you have an iota of empathy, to watch him navigate his tremendous fame and wealth in the way that he has, and it is not hard or overly judgmental to consider the possibility that he was less well-prepared for his stature in society than some of his peers were. Experiencing the vicarious emotional difficulty that his turbulent early career has offered, however, is not the same thing as demanding humbleness and submission from Morant, and the tenor of such calls has a historical lineage that any upstanding person should be deeply ashamed to evoke—in any context, ever.

Put more plainly: it is righteous and human to be concerned about Morant, but not so much to be boldly racist about how he chooses to conduct himself. It is not a problem that he does certain things with his hair, or with his body as he celebrates, or that he chooses to hang out with people whose mode of self-expression is disruptive to your expectations. All of these things are financial problems for Morant when they impact his ability to partner with corporations for advertising campaigns, but my hunch is that his $200 million dollar contract with the Memphis Grizzlies has him covered, there—and besides, as Jalen Rose says in this instances, it’s best to keep your hand out of the young man’s pocket.

Morant’s suspension was suspiciously long for what he actually did, and everyone who’s discussed it thoughtfully has suggested that its length belied the league’s effort to execute a public-image course correction for a player that they consider an important part of their current and future business vision. The motivations described seem to have failed, perhaps because they sprouted less from genuine concern than greed. If Morant is endangering himself or others, that’s an issue that needs addressing, but when it comes to how he wants to be, well, that’s up to him, and it looks as though he's decided for now that his freedom to speak and signal as he does matters more to him than maximizing his branding opportunities. A large sum of money has already been guaranteed in exchange for what he offers on the court. So if you care too much about how he exists otherwise, maybe it’s time you got a group together and tried buying him out.