NBA suspends superstar Ja Morant for 25 games for second gun incident
Ja Morant #JaMorant
The NBA on Friday suspended point guard Ja Morant for 25 games after he appeared to flash a gun on Instagram Live a second time, derailing the upcoming season for one of the league’s most ascendant but troubled stars and his team, the Memphis Grizzlies.
In a statement, Commissioner Adam Silver called Morant’s actions “alarming and disconcerting.”
“For Ja, basketball needs to take a back seat at this time,” Silver said, adding Morant will have to “fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior.”
In a statement released Friday, Morant apologized to the NBA, the Grizzlies, his fans and his sponsors, saying he would spend his suspension training and working on his “mental health and decision making.
“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,” Morant said. “I hope you’ll give me a chance to prove to you over time I’m a better man than what I’ve been showing you.”
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The Grizzlies issued a terse statement saying the team respected the league’s decision.
Tamika Tremaglio, the head of the National Basketball Players Association, said in a statement Morant’s suspension was “excessive and inappropriate for a number of reasons” and it was “not fair and consistent” with previous punishments.
“Ja has expressed his remorse and accepted responsibility for his actions, and we support him unequivocally as he does whatever is necessary to represent himself, our players and our league in the best possible light,” Tremaglio said. “We will explore with Ja all options and next steps.”
Morant and the NBPA have 30 days to formally appeal the suspension to an arbitrator, who would review the terms of the suspension and could reduce its length and accompanying financial penalties. Morant has not yet decided to proceed with an appeal, but he could expect the arbitrator to issue a ruling before the start of the 2023-24 season, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
An appeal effort could be centered on Morant’s punishment relative to other gun-related incidents and the NBA’s nebulous return-to-play requirements. Stephen Jackson was suspended seven games in 2007 for pleading guilty to criminal recklessness after firing a gun outside a strip club, and Raymond Felton was suspended four games in 2014 after he pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a firearm. Morant hasn’t faced any criminal charges related to either of his gun videos, and he wasn’t found to have brought a firearm into a team facility like Gilbert Arenas did in 2009.
Previously, the NBPA raised concerns with the NBA’s implementation of return-to-play requirements for Kyrie Irving, who was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets for his refusal to apologize after promoting an antisemitic film on his social media accounts.
Morant was suspended eight games last season for streaming himself on Instagram Live with a gun in a Colorado strip club, a punishment largely seen as the league offering a second chance to a supremely talented player who was poised to be one of its biggest stars and pitchmen.
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But in May, two months after an apology tour that included meeting with Silver and expressing contrition in an ESPN interview, Morant again appeared to flash a gun in a car while his friend broadcast live on Instagram. The two gun videos came on the heels of allegations Morant and his friends attacked a teenager at his home, accosted a mall security guard and got in a confrontation with high school students at a volleyball game.
Silver had indicated in recent public comments that he planned to levy a far more significant suspension this time, remarking he was “shocked” by the latest video and he didn’t want to announce his decision until after the NBA Finals to not distract from the series between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.
The suspension, one of the longest in NBA history, will sideline Morant from the start of the 2023-24 season in mid-October through early December. The two-time all-star guard will miss out on $7.6 million of his $33.5 million salary for next season during the suspension; Morant’s first suspension cost him more than $668,000 in lost salary, and he missed out on approximately $39 million in additional salary because he wasn’t named to an all-NBA team this season.
Due to a rule in the new NBA collective bargaining agreement requiring players to appear in at least 65 games to qualify for postseason awards, Morant will also be ineligible for MVP or all-NBA consideration in 2024.
It is the third-longest gun-related ban in NBA history. Then-Washington Wizards Arenas and Javaris Crittenton were suspended 50 and 38 games, respectively, for bringing guns into the locker room.
Morant, 23, rose from obscurity in rural South Carolina to win the 2020 Rookie of the Year award, riveting NBA fans with electric play and gravity-defying dunks. A two-time all-star, he earned a contract extension worth $193 million and had began to build a formidable brand, announcing a signature shoe with Nike and a deal to become the new face of Powerade.
But in recent months, Morant has been plagued by a series of scandals that raised questions about his judgment.
Morant is being sued by the Memphis-area teenager he admitted punching during a pickup game on the grounds of his Tennessee mansion. Morant has since countersued, claiming he punched the teenager in self-defense and blaming the negative publicity for his costly all-NBA snub — though he lost roughly a tenth of that season due to the first gun-related suspension.
Morant was part of two other incidents last summer in which police were involved, The Post has reported. A shoe salesman and security guard told police Morant and his associates threatened them in a disturbance at a local mall. In September, Morant and his family stormed a volleyball game at his sister’s high school, where somebody with Morant allegedly threatened teenagers and slapped a cellphone out of one of their hands, according to the police report.
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Morant was not charged in any incident. But The Post previously reported police in Memphis repeatedly didn’t follow up with alleged victims and neglected leads when it came to investigating the city’s most famous resident.
For the Grizzlies, the loss of the franchise player for nearly a third of an 82-game regular season is a crippling blow to what has been one of the NBA’s most exciting franchises. The team, which has not made a Finals appearance during its 22-year existence in Memphis, won its division the last two seasons. But in the last playoffs, which began roughly three weeks after Morant returned from his first suspension, the Grizzlies were eliminated in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers. Less than three weeks after that final game, Morant flashed a gun again, and the Grizzlies immediately suspended him pending the NBA investigation.
In Morant’s absence this fall, Tyus Jones, one of the league’s best backup point guards, is expected to step into a starting role. Memphis has most of its key rotation players under contract for next season, though it is expected to part with brash forward Dillon Brooks. The Grizzlies were 40-21 (.656) with Morant last season and 11-10 (.524) without him.