Charlotte Hornets formally cut ties with Kai Jones, the 22-year old center/forward on October 11, as per NBA.com. The announcement was made by the team’s President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
The untimely decision came just two days after Jones’ rather shocking X post, stating that he officially requested a trade from his team.
I have officially requested to be traded from the Charlotte Hornets. #GOATLIFE
— Kai Jones (@242_jones) October 9, 2023
This sparked a firestorm on social media, as players typically don’t post about these topics on their X accounts, and for good reason. Publicly asking for a trade from their team can result in a $150,000 fine, as per NBA Central.
According to league rules, Kai Jones could be fined up to $150K for publicly requesting a trade 😬
(h/t @byBrianGoins ) pic.twitter.com/kH062YshOR
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 9, 2023
Prior to this incident, Jones had been in an erratic and bizarre social media trance, making all sorts of outlandish claims about himself, saying that he was better than other players like LaMello Ball and Brandon Miller, that he was good enough to knock off LeBron James or Shaquille O’Neil, and that he was the GOAT- greatest of all time.
He also went live on Instagram, where he behaved in an unusual way, dancing and rambling oftentimes unintelligibly.
This prompted people to ask if he was mentally stable, expressing their concern for the player.
Phoenix Suns’ Guard Terrence Ross even asked on Instagram about his situation.
Ross: Is he all there, mentally?
Jones: @terrence I’m the greatest of all time check my highlights
Ross: @kaijones242 so no
Terrence Ross and Kai Jones had an exchange under this post.
(via @LeagueAlerts) pic.twitter.com/fdDvAf4Ea5
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) October 9, 2023
On September 30, the Hornets made the decision to exclude him from the team’s training camp practices as a result of his odd behavior and disparaging social media remarks. Via their official X account, the Hornets released the following statement:
“The Charlotte Hornets announced today that forward/center Kai Jones will not participate in Training Camp due to personal reasons. There is not currently a timetable for his return to the team. Out of respect for the personal nature of the situation, the Hornets will not have any additional public comments regarding the matter at this time.”
The @hornets released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/v13Y8vh4i0
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) September 30, 2023
Within the first two years of his professional career, Jones made a name for himself, albeit not necessarily in a positive manner. During his tenure with the Charlotte Hornets, he logged an average of 2.7 points and 2.0 points in 9.1 minutes per game over the course of two seasons.
As the Hornets set him free, Jones responded to this news saying “I used to pray for times like dis #GOATLIFE”.
And within the next few hours, he followed this up with a video of him vibing at his girlfriend’s soccer game, captioning it with “Yuh yuh yuh yuh yuh I got infinity money.”
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The photo above is from a YouTube screengrab