Ja Morant appears to flash gun in IG live video again, Grizzlies suspend the star as league reviews
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant is suspended once again.
In an Instagram Live video reportedly captured Saturday, the 23-year-old was seen waving what appears to be a gun from the driver's seat of a slowly moving vehicle.
"We are aware of the social media video involving Ja Morant," the Grizzlies said in a statement Sunday morning. "He is suspended from all activities pending League review. We have no further comment at this time."
The league is "in the process of gathering more information," NBA spokesperson Mike Bass told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Grizzlies star Ja Morant was allegedly seen holding a gun on an IG Live yesterday.pic.twitter.com/bqvwbwgd9m
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 14, 2023
Morant was suspended for eight games without pay in March for a similar situation. He went live on Instagram at a Colorado stripclub after a loss to the Denver Nuggets and flashed what was later found to be someone else's gun.
In that instance it took less than 24 hours for the Grizzlies to announce he would be away from the team for at least two games.
The NBA investigated the incident and determined Morant did not possess the gun during travel with the team. The police did not charge him with a crime.
Morant met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver to discuss his conduct at the time, which was deemed to be "detrimental to the league" in a statement from the NBA.
Ahead of his return to the court, Morant spoke to reporters about the counseling he underwent in Florida during his time away from the team, saying he needed to be "more responsible."
"I don't have an alcohol problem. I've never had an alcohol problem," Morant said. "I went there for counseling. To learn how to manage stress — cope with stress in a positive way. Instead of, you know, ways I've tried to deal with it before that caused me to make mistakes."
The Colorado outing came shortly after a report from the Washington Post detailed allegations that Morant assaulted a teenager and threatened him with a gun during a pickup game at his house last summer. He was also accused of threatening the head of security at a Memphis mall in a separate incident.
In April, the Post published a timeline of alleged events from the summer of 2022. It described how Memphis police appeared to mishandle three reports involving Morant and his family by misrepresenting or failing to identify alleged suspects and witnesses at the scene of various events.
As the team prepared for its first-round playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers, Morant also filed a countersuit against the teenager for slander, battery and assault. In the filing, Morant's representation claimed the teenager's accusations irreparably impacted his chances to make the All-NBA team.
He wasn't selected for the team, which was announced Wednesday.
Morant averaged 26.2 points, 8.1 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals while shooting 46.6% from the field and 30.7% from 3 this past season. His second-seeded Grizzlies were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the seventh-seeded Lakers in six games.
