The Memphis Grizzlies have suspended star guard Ja Morant from all team activities following an IG Live video that allegedly depicted him holding a gun.
Morant was recorded in the passenger seat of a friend’s car listening to NBA YoungBoy when the camera panned on Morant for a split second. That was enough time to make out the outline of a gun. The video has since been deleted by the original poster, @_dtap2 on Instagram, but screen grabs have kept the video online and has since made its rounds on social media.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass has since commented on the situation. “We are aware of the social media post involving Ja Morant and are in the process of gathering more information.”
The Grizzlies have also released a statement, saying the same thing as Bass but with a bit more detail.
“We are aware of the social media video involving Ja Morant. He is suspended from all team activities pending League review. We have no further comment at this time.”
Morant’s March video is still fresh in everyone’s mind
This is the second time in two months that the NBA All-Star has found himself in hot water over waving a gun around on IG Live. Back in March, Morant filmed himself pointing a gun at his camera on Instagram Live in a nightclub in Denver. He ended up stepping away from basketball for a few weeks. Morant also enrolled himself in a Florida counseling program before returning to the court. He was suspended eight games without pay for the incident.
The NBA investigated the situation and could not determine whether or not the gun belonged to the 23-year-old NBA All-Star. Morant denies that it is his. As of this report, there is no connection between the firearm in the nightclub video and the one shown on Saturday’s Instagram Live video.
Everyone thought Morant had learned his lesson after his Denver strip club incident. He seemed to have owned up to his mistakes and made peace with himself over the situation. After being suspended for eight games and seeing a counselor, he returned to the Grizzlies and didn’t miss a beat.
Morant having learned his lesson has turned out to not be the case. Now, the NBA star will be under an even bigger microscope for the foreseaable future. At this point, Morant getting a suspension to being the 2023-24 is on the table if any other incident were to occur.
