Adam Silver expresses disappointment over latest Ja Morant video

NBACommissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday thatMemphis guard Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on socialmedia this past weekend, but did not predict what punishment theleague may impose.

Morant hasalready been suspended him from all team activities by theGrizzlies and the league has opened another investigation into thestar guard’s off-court conduct.

Silver metwith Morant after a similar incident in March and suspended him foreight games.

“Honestly, Iwas shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,” Silver said in atelevised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago.“We’re in the process of investigating it and we’ll figure outexactly what happened as best as we can. The video’s a bit grainyand all that, but I’m assuming the worst. We’ll figure out exactlywhat happened there.”

It’s thesecond time in less than three months that Morant was seen onInstagram holding what appeared to be a weapon. The first led tothe eight-game suspension that was handed down in March and costMorant about $669,000 in salary.

This time,the suspension could be much longer and much more costly. Thesecond video was captured Saturday night and widely shared online.It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associateDavonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told TheAssociated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because theGrizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latestvideo.

The videostreamed by Pack shows Morant in the passenger seat of a vehicle,briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment —maybe less than a second — when Morant is shown holding whatappears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of avehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.

“He couldhave injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an actlike that,” Silver said. “And also the acknowledgement that he’s astar. He has an incredibly huge following. And my concern — and Ithought he shared with me — that millions if not tens of millionsof kids globally would see him as having done something that wascelebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in thatfashion.”

When theseason ended a couple weeks ago, Morant said again that he neededto work on his decision-making.

“Beingdisciplined on both sides, off the court making better decisionsand on the court being locked in even more,” Morant said followinga season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. “Being a leader ofthis team, it pretty much starts with me. ... I’ve got to be betterin that area.”

Morant’sfive-year, $194 million max contract is set to begin this comingseason. He has endorsement deals with Nike and Powerade, though thesports drink company pulled an ad featuring Morant almostimmediately after the March video emerged.

This is thethird known NBA investigation surrounding Morant and the possibleinvolvement of firearms so far in 2023.

Morant’sactions were investigated after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis thathe said led to Pack banned from Grizzlies’ home games for ayear.

That incidentfollowed a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources,The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple membersof the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them while they were nearthe loading dock where their bus was located, and The Athleticreported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser wasattached to a gun.

The NBAconfirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena butsaid its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatenedwith a weapon.

Then came theDenver-area incident in the early hours of March 4, after theGrizzlies played a road game against the Nuggets when Morantstarted a livestream from inside a strip club while holding a gun.No charges were filed.

Morant andPack also are involved in a civil lawsuit brought after an incidentat Morant’s home last summer, in which a then-17-year-old allegedthat they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12,accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault.