Photo: Peter Baba

The Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant is not throwing away his NBA career … at least, that’s according to former NBA forward Richard Jefferson, who tells TMZ Sports the star’s latest lapse in judgment is simply a young man “making mistakes in front of the public eye.”

“Him and his family are good people,” Jefferson said, before adding, “I believe in him. I believe that he’ll kind of turn things on. And, look, we’ve seen men come through worse and come out on the other side.”