Ja Morant was punished when a video revealed the Grizzlies’ star had a gun
Ja Morant has been suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies from all team activities after a video of the star guard brandishing a gun started going viral on social media on Saturday night.
Two months after the NBA penalised Morant for a comparable incident, the Grizzlies made the punishment public in a statement on Sunday. The penalty is subject to a league review. The group made no additional comments.
The NBA’s Mike Bass issued a statement on Sunday stating, “We are aware of the social media post regarding Ja Morant and are in the process of obtaining more information.
On Saturday, while driving and singing along to a rap song, the All-Star displayed a firearm during an Instagram Live session on Morant’s friend Davonte Pack’s account. Since then, the video has been removed.
After a video surfaced in March showing Morant clutching a gun while intoxicated at a Denver bar while the Grizzlies were in town to play the Nuggets, Morant quit the Grizzlies and enrolled in a counselling programme. After meeting with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who described Morant’s actions as “irresponsible, reckless, and potentially very dangerous,” he was ultimately given an eight-game suspension.
Morant said in an interview with ESPN at the time of the suspension that he understands “what I have to lose” and that he will work to be “more responsible, more intelligent, and staying away from all the bad decisions.”
Over the past year, Morant has been a part of a number of off-court confrontations. After a confrontation during a pickup game in Morant’s backyard, when Morant and Pack are believed to have punched the child in the head, he is being sued by a high school prospect. The adolescent informed police that following the altercation, Morant went inside his home and later emerged from it carrying a revolver.
After a postgame altercation with the Pacers’ travelling party, Pack was prohibited from attending games at Memphis’ FedExForum. After stepping onto the court during the game to confront Pacers players, Pack was led from his courtside position.
A red laser was pointed from an SUV that Morant was riding in following a dispute between his friends and the Pacers’ travelling party in the arena’s loading dock area following the game. Investigation by the NBA “could not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon.”
After the Grizzlies were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, Morant declared he needed to exercise greater restraint.
He stated, “I’ve just got to be better with my decision-making,” during a 125-85 loss to the Lakers on April 28. “That’s basically it. Off-court concerns largely had an impact on our organisation. Simply more discipline is required.
The first season of Morant’s five-year, $194 million contract is scheduled to start in 2019. If he had been selected for the All-NBA team this season, it might have gone to a supermax; instead, he missed out, costing him nearly $39 million in potential future earnings. He has sponsorship deals with Nike and Powerade, but the sports drink firm promptly removed a commercial featuring Morant after the March video surfaced.
