The Memphis Grizzlies suspended star guard Ja Morant after he appeared to be holding a gun during an Instagram video that surfaced Saturday. The Grizzlies suspended Morant from all team activities Sunday morning after the video started circulating on social media Saturday night. The statement said Morant was suspended “pending league review.”
The league is investigating the latest incident, according to a report.
This is the second time the Grizzlies or the NBA have suspended Morant in relation to him holding or brandishing a gun in an Instagram video.
In the latest video, Morant is riding in passenger seat of a car while singing along to a rap song. He then appears to be holding a gun before the camera cuts away.
The NBA suspended Morant for eight games for holding a gun in a Denver nightclub in March. NBA commissioner Adam Silver suspended Morant for “conduct detrimental to the league.” A league investigation determined the gun was not Morant’s, but Silver called Morant’s actions “irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous.”
Morant, 23, apologized for the incident while promising to make better decisions and be more accountable moving forward.
“It’s not who I am,” Morant said during an interview on ESPN. “I don’t condone any type of violence but I take full responsibility for my actions. I made a bad mistake, and I can see that image I painted over myself with my recent mistakes, but in the future, I’ll make sure everybody knows who Ja really is, and what I’m about and change this narrative.”
The latest incident and suspension continues what has been a series of controversial actions and behavior by Morant in recent months.
Morant allegedly punched a 17-year-old boy multiple times and later emerged from his house with a gun tucked into his waistband last summer, according to a report in the Washington Post. The same report also alleged that Morant and his associates confronted a security guard in a mall following an incident involving his mother four days before the incident involving the teenager.
Acquaintances of Morant allegedly pointed lasers while threatening and harassing staff members of the Indiana Pacers in February.
