Ja Morant Suspended By The NBA For 25 Games After Brandishing A Gun For A Second Time On Instagram Live

Tom Tapp
·4 min read
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Ja Morant, the Memphis Grizzlies’ guard who is among the NBA’s most dynamic players, has been suspended without pay by the league for 25 games after repeatedly brandishing a gun on social media. Pro rated, the suspension could cost Morant $10-plus million, based on his $33.5 million annual salary this past year. It will also cost the Grizzlies, who came in second in the Western Conference last year, their best player for a good chunk of the 82-game season.

Morant was suspended by the Grizzlies after the latest mid-May incident, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver decided the league would wait to impose its own punishment until after the Finals so as not to distract from that event. Now that the Denver Nuggets have been crowned NBA champs, Silver was free to make the announcement.

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Morant was shown in the Mid-may video holding a gun, the second such incident this year for him.

He had already been suspended eight games in March for a previous video of him brandishing a gun at a Colorado strip club. At the time, Morant apologized and said he would “work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”

In announcing today’s suspension, Silver said in a statement, “Ja Morant’s decision to once again wield a firearm on social media is alarming and disconcerting given his similar conduct in March for which he was already suspended eight games. The potential for other young people to emulate Ja’s conduct is particularly concerning. Under these circumstances, we believe a suspension of 25 games is appropriate and makes clear that engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns will not be tolerated.”

Silver continued, “For Ja, basketball needs to take a back seat at this time. Prior to his return to play, he will be required to formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior.”

The NBA’s full statement is below.

Per ESPN, Morant issued his own statement today.

“I’ve had time to reflect and I realize how much hurt I’ve caused,” Morant said. “I want to apologize to the NBA, the Grizzlies, my teammates and the city of Memphis. To Adam Silver, Zach Kleiman and Robert Pera — who gave me the opportunity to be a professional athlete and have supported me — I’m sorry for the harm I’ve done. To the kids who look up to me, I’m sorry for failing you as a role model. I promise I’m going to be better. To all of my sponsors, I’m going to be a better representation of our brands. And to all of my fans, I’m going to make it up to you, I promise.

“I’m spending the offseason and my suspension continuing to work on my own mental health and decision making. I’m also going to be training so that I’m ready to go when I can be back on the court. I know my teammates are going to hold it down and I’m so sorry I won’t be out there with you at the beginning of the season. I hope you’ll give me the chance to prove to you over time I’m a better man than what I’ve been showing you.”

The Memphis Grizzlies star missed out on making the All-NBA team for the 2022-23 season, at least in part due to voters’ reaction to his suspension. Missing the All-NBA roster cost the Morant a bonus of about $40 million.

Nike has stuck with the troubled star despite the drama, releasing Morant’s Ja 1 “Hunger” sneaker in late May. The shoe sold out online within 20 minutes of launch, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Powerade, with which he also has an endorsement deal, pulled an ad featuring Morant after the March video.

The league’s longest-ever suspension was issued to Tyreke Evans in 2019. He got two years for violating NBA drug policy.

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