Ja Morant, a point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, won’t participate in at least the next two games after the NBA opened an inquiry as a result of his Instagram Live video, in which he flashed what seemed to be a revolver while at a nightclub early on Saturday morning.
Morant won’t participate in Sunday’s game against the LA Clippers or Tuesday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to the Grizzlies’ announcement made in the afternoon on Saturday.
In a statement earlier on Saturday, NBA spokesman Mike Bass stated, “We are aware of a social media post regarding Ja Morant and are looking into it.
At 5:19 a.m. ET, hours after the Grizzlies’ 113-97 defeat to the Denver Nuggets, Morant started his Instagram Live session. The All-Star guard could be seen holding up a revolver with his left hand while rapping up to the song while also being completely bare-chested. On Saturday afternoon, Morant deleted his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Morant said in a statement that he accepts “all responsibility for my past night’s acts.”
I’m sorry for disappointing my family, friends, teammates, coaches, supporters, business partners, the city of Memphis, and the whole organisation, the statement said. I’m going to take some time off to get assistance and concentrate on developing more effective coping mechanisms for stress and maintaining my general wellbeing.
In a statement issued Saturday night, Nike, which has a signature shoe line with Morant, supported the Grizzlies’ star player.
The statement stated, “We appreciate Ja’s responsibility and that he is taking the time to receive the treatment he needs. “We applaud his decision to put his well-being first.”
A Washington Post article reporting two events involving Morant this summer that led to police complaints but no charges was followed by Morant’s video. According to police interviews acquired by The Washington Post, in the second incident, a 17-year-old kid said that after fighting with Morant during a pick-up basketball game in the Grizzlies point guard’s backyard, Morant left his home with a revolver in his waistband and his hand on the firearm. In the other incident, a customer and a mall security officer got into a fight in a parking lot.
“Each and every claim involving a weapon has been completely examined and could not be confirmed,” Jim Tanner, Morant’s agent, said in a statement in reaction to the Post’s article. This includes the NBA’s recent probe, which turned up no proof.
After the Grizzlies’ victory on Jan. 29 at home, a post-game altercation between friends of Morant and the Indiana Pacers’ visiting group led to that inquiry. The Pacers organisation claimed that after that incident, which took place near the Indiana team bus in the FedExForum loading area and was first reported by The Athletic, a red laser was pointed at Pacers players from a sports utility vehicle in which Morant was a passenger. NBA security and investigators subsequently spoke with numerous witnesses and looked over video surveillance.
According to interviews and other information obtained, “we validated that a postgame scene emerged that was combative, but we could not confirm that any person threatened others with a weapon,” Bass said to The Athletic. “After the incident, certain people were prohibited from going to future games at the arena. These people were engaged in the post-game argument and another incident during the game that night. The league administration will undertake another review if new information about the postgame incident comes to light.”
One of Morant’s old pals, Davonte Pack, was prohibited from entering the arena as a result of the incident. After a verbal disagreement with Pacers players in the third quarter of the game, Pack, who was sat courtside next to Morant’s father, Tee, walked onto the court. Pack was then removed out of the seating section by arena security.
Brandon Clarke’s Achilles injury from Friday’s defeat has forced him to miss the remainder of the season, which is further awful news for the Grizzlies. Also, Memphis will be without starting forward Dillon Brooks for Sunday’s contest with the Clippers due to Brooks’ inevitable one-game suspension for picking up his 16th technical foul of the year on Friday.
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