Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant to “take some time away” from the team after allegedly brandishing a gun in a club
Ja Morant #JaMorant
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant is under fire again after he livestreamed a video of himself on Instagram brandishing an apparent gun at a club in Denver, Colorado on Friday night.
The Grizzlies played and lost to the Denver Nuggets at the Ball Arena in Colorado on Friday night.
In a statement released Saturday on Twitter, the Grizzlies’ public relations team said in response to the incident, Morant would be stepping away from the team for at least two games.
Morant also put out a statement Saturday afternoon addressing the scandal and taking responsibility for his actions.
“I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down,” the 23-year-old guard said. “I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”
The Denver Police Department told CBS News that it does not yet know of any arrests or investigations into Morant’s alleged behavior at a club.
This is not the first time Morant has been in the news lately. The Washington Post reported that earlier this week, Morant was accused of threatening mall security in Memphis after his mother got into a disagreement with an employee at Finish Line, a shoe store. The paper also reported that the basketball player was accused of punching a 17-year-old teenager and brandishing a gun during a pickup basketball game.
Morant is a leading player on the Grizzlies with a game point average of 27.1 points per game and six rebounds per game.
The guard was drafted by the Grizzlies as a second overall pick in the first round draft of the 2019 NBA draft.