Ja Morant suspended from all Grizzlies activities after latest gun video
Ja Morant could be in hot water with the NBA after another video involving an apparent gun surfaced on social media.
The Grizzlies suspended their star guard from all team activities on Sunday after an Instagram Live video from the account “_dtap2” showed Morant in a car holding what appeared to be a gun.
While the video was deleted from the account, clips of it spread on social media Sunday morning.
“We are aware of the social media video involving Ja Morant,” the Grizzlies said in a statement. “He is suspended from all team activities pending League review. We have no further comment at this time.”
The video comes more than two months after Morant posted an Instagram Live video on March 4 in which he brandished a gun while at the Shotgun Willie’s strip club in Glendale, Colo.
Morant, who went to a counseling program in Florida after the March video, was suspended eight games by the NBA, and it could be much worse this time around.
“Ja Morant is facing the very real possibility of a lengthy suspension to start next season,” Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday on ESPN’s “NBA Countdown.”
Warning: Graphic language
ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose, who writes the Renaissance Man column for The Post, then speculated that Morant could receive a 20-25-game suspension.
“We are aware of the social media post involving Ja Morant and are in the process of gathering more information,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said Sunday.
Glendale Police investigated the March incident but said “there was not enough available evidence to charge anyone with a crime.”
After his suspension was announced, Morant had a sit-down interview with Rose on ESPN in which he said the gun from the March 4 video did not belong to him.
“It’s not who I am. I don’t condone any type of violence, but I’ve taken responsibility for my actions,” Morant told Rose on March 15. “I’m gonna show everybody who Ja really is, what I’m about and change this narrative that nobody got painted over me.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver condemned Morant for flashing a gun in the March 4 video.
“Ja’s conduct was irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous,” Silver said in a March 15 statement when Morant was suspended. “It also has serious consequences given his enormous following and influence, particularly among young fans who look up to him.
“He has expressed sincere remorse for his behavior. Ja has also made it clear to me that he has learned from this incident and that he understands his obligations and responsibility to the Memphis Grizzlies and the broader NBA community extend well beyond his play on the court.”
The new gun video is the latest concerning incident involving Morant, who according to the Washington Post was accused of punching a teenage boy in the head during a pickup basketball game at the Memphis guard’s house last summer.
The boy alleged that Morant then went into his house and came back out with a gun visible in the waistband of his pants, the paper reported in March.
The two-time All-Star also allegedly “threatened” the head of security of a Memphis mall last summer in a parking-lot altercation, per the Washington Post.
The No. 2 overall pick out of Murray State in the 2019 draft, Morant averaged 26.2 points, 8.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds during the 2022-23 regular season.
Morant returned from his suspension on March 22 and played in eight games down the stretch of the regular season. He then played in five of the six games in the second-seeded Grizzlies’ first-round playoff loss to the Lakers, missing a Game 2 Memphis win with a hand injury.
After the Grizzlies were eliminated, Morant admitted he needed to make better decisions.
“Off-the-court issues affected us as an organization,” Morant said. “Just [need] more discipline.”
