Ja in China: An Alaska detour, funeral crashing, typhoons and tattoos
Left to right: Phil Morant, Ja Morant, Kevin Helms and Diego Garcia hike a mountain in Alaska while stuck in Anchorage. (Jnie Williams/Catch12 Media)
In July, a huddle formed inside a private jet flying over the Pacific Ocean.
Seconds earlier, one of the plane’s pilots had emerged from the cockpit and tapped the shoulders of Kevin Helms, Morant Enterprises’ director of operations, and Diego Garcia, the Nike representative for Grizzlies star Ja Morant.
The look on their faces said it all.
“I’m sitting in the back, watching a Netflix series, when I glance up and I see the little meeting that they were having,” said Phil Morant, Ja Morant’s uncle and the director of business affairs for Morant Enterprises. “I knew it wasn’t good. Right after that, Kevin and Diego walked over to me and kneeled down.
“The first words from Kevin: ‘Hey, so we have a problem.’”
Five hours off the coast of China, Nike’s private jet was turning around and going back to Alaska.
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Drew Hill
Drew Hill covers the Memphis Grizzlies and is a top-10 APSE winner. He has worked throughout the South writing about college athletics before landing in Memphis.
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