Shannon Sharpe was not impressed with Ja Morant’s latest apology.
The NFL Hall of Famer mocked the embattled Grizzlies star on Wednesday’s episode of “Undisputed,” alleging that Morant’s recent comments that addressed a video of him holding a gun from Saturday were the outcomes of the bogus intelligence program, ChatGPT.
“Skip, that’s not how Ja [talks],” Sharpe told his co-host, Skip Bayless. “I don’t know for those who find out about ChatGPT … they’ve been explaining it to me, you’ll be able to say, ‘Write me a love letter to [your wife] Ernestine …’
Bayless interjected that he couldn’t pass off an AI piece of writing as his own because he has a definite style.
“Skip, [the apology] is AI generated,” Sharpe continued. “To ensure that an apology — it must be sincere and it must be in your words. Among the wording must be in some things that you just would say. It will probably’t be all by a PR team or persons are gonna say that’s disingenuous.”
The 23-year-old Morant appeared to brandish a firearm in an Instagram Live video this past weekend.
The Grizzlies swiftly suspended him from team activities — lower than three months after he was seen holding a gun in a separate social media video and was subsequently suspended for eight games in March.
Morant released an apology on Tuesday night.
“I do know I’ve upset a variety of individuals who have supported me,” the statement said, via ESPN. “This can be a journey and I recognize there’s more work to do. My words may not mean much at once, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself.”
As Morant’s words circulated online, one popular meme intimated that the athlete used ChatGPT to craft the statement.
It is way likelier that Morant used an expert PR team than AI, however the meme did raise eyebrows concerning the apology seeming robotic.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who previously spoke with Morant following the incident from earlier this 12 months, told ESPN on Tuesday he “was shocked” upon seeing essentially the most recent video.
“We’re within the means of investigating it and we’ll work out exactly what happened as best as we will,” Silver said. “The video’s a bit grainy and all that, but I’m assuming the worst. We’ll work out exactly what happened there.”
It’s been speculated Morant could potentially face a greater suspension this time.
