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During the 4th quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers, embattled Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant released a statement regarding his latest gun incident.
Over the weekend, Morant — who was suspended for eight games during the 2022-23 season for flashing a gun while on Instagram live — was once again seen brandishing a firearm in a social media post.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me. This is a journey & I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself,” Morant’s statement says, according to USA Today.
Speaking at the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he was “shocked” by the latest video.
“We talked directly about the consequences first,” Sliver said at the NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago. “We were very focused on the misconduct that was in front of us at the time. Frankly, most of our conversation was about how incredibly serious the first incident was of waving a firearm on social media.”
At this time, Silver says that the league is investigating the incident and will decide on a punishment once the investigation is complete. Given that this is Morant’s second offense, there is some speculation that Morant’s suspension could be in the neighborhood of 20 games, which would be about a quarter of the season.
Drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies out of Murray State with the 2nd overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Morant quickly established himself as one of the most exciting talents in the league, as he was named NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season.
During his four-season NBA career, Morant has averaged 22.4 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game, has been named to two All-Star games, and won Most Improved Player in 2022.
This season, however, Morant dealt his career self-inflicted wounds with this duo of firearm incidents.
