NBA Star Suspended After Being Caught on Video Doing the Same Thing That Led to 1st Suspension
For all of Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant’s prodigious talents, common sense does not appear to be one of them.
Morant, still just 23 years old, has always been a “car crash”-kind of player — the type of player who sees a wall of defenders in front of him and opts to barrel headfirst into them and ask questions later.
To his credit, it’s a mesmerizing, exciting style of play that hearkens back to late 1980s Michael Jordan.
To the chagrin of Grizzlies fans, however, Morant’s on-court recklessness largely appears to translate to his off-court shenanigans as well.
If you’ll recall, Morant first came under some intense national scrutiny when he was suspended back in March after an Instagram video surfaced of him brandishing a gun at a nightclub:
WARNING: The following video contains images and language some viewers will find offensive.
Grizzlies star Ja Morant was allegedly seen showing off a gun on his IG Live this morning.pic.twitter.com/HlhvoWlnYy
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 4, 2023
That ill-advised video saw Morant get suspended for eight games.
Now, Morant has been “suspended from all team activities” as the league investigates his newest video.
Here’s the new video in question:
WARNING: The following video contains images and language some viewers will find offensive.
JaMorant pic.twitter.com/XqJFwEOHTj
— James Burnes (@JamesBurnes8) May 14, 2023
Of note, there is no confirmation that the gun in the video was real, nor was it Morant’s.
In the latest video, you can see an Instagram video of Morant and associates driving. At one point in the video, it appears that Morant is brandishing a gun.
It didn’t take very long for that new video to make its way to Grizzlies executives, as the team swiftly announced that Morant had been suspended again:
Statement from the Memphis Grizzlies pic.twitter.com/XXLjr6QtlG
— Grizzlies PR (@GrizzliesPR) May 14, 2023
“We are aware of the social media video involving Ja Morant,” the terse statement reads. “He is suspended from all team activities pending League review. We have no further comment at this time.”
It’s an ignominious development for a rising superstar that the NBA clearly values (Morant’s was the 8th best-selling jersey this past season) but who has had an increasing amount of negative press surrounding him and his team, as of late.
In the last few months alone, outlets such as The Washington Post and The Athletic have documented Morant’s numerous run-ins with the law. Those incidents include Morant allegedly threatening a teenager with a gun, and pointing a gun’s laser pointer at NBA staffers.
Morant’s issues are just the latest setback for a Grizzlies franchise that has found lots of regular-season success since drafting Morant out of Murray State University, but not nearly as much post-season success.
The Grizzlies are currently at home after the Los Angeles Lakers, despite being a 7-seed and play-in team to the Grizzlies’ 2-seed, eliminated them in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
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