Grizzlies players support Ja Morant after gun incident: 'He's family' / News - Basketnews.com

Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, and Tyus Jones reacted to Ja Morant's gun flashing and expressed support for their star teammate: "We're wrapping our arms around him and showing our love to him."

Credit: AFP - Scanpix Credit AFP - Scanpix

Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant made headlines after flashing the gun at a nightclub. He has taken a break from basketball while his teammates are continuing the season.

Ja Morant

MIN:32.48PTS:27.09 (54.56%)REB:6As:8.19ST:1.11BL:0.25TO:3.4GM:53ProfileNBA2022/2023

Memphis suffered a 135-129 loss against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night, but the main topic after the game was Ja Morant.

Jaren Jackson Jr. called Morant "his brother" in light of Ja's Instagram video and being away from the team.

"I'm happy for whatever he decides to do. I trust his judgement. He's doing what's best for him. He's going to come back and take over the league again," Jackson Jr. said, via Mark Medina.

"When he comes back, he's going to be in the same groove. It really doesn't end up mattering," he added and then responded to a question if he was concerned Ja showed a gun on video: "Not really."

Desmond Bane followed in Jaren's footsteps and expressed support for his teammate.

"We're a big family. We're wrapping our arms around him and showing our love to him," Bane told Mark Medina.

Is he confident Ja will rectify his behavior?

"For sure. He's a resilient guy, tough-minded guy. Whenever he's ready to come back, we'll welcome him with open arms," Bane said.

Tyus Jones also voiced confidence that Ja Morant will take the necessary steps with showing accountability.

"I'm confident that Ja is going to handle his business and continue to do what he needs to do to get himself in the right place. When it's time to continue to play basketball, he will be ready too, whenever it may be," Jones commented on the matter.

"You want the best for him. He's family. You care for him and love family. You just want the best for him."

Is Tyus in touch with Ja?

"I've talked with him a couple of times," Jones responded to Mark Medina's question but did not elaborate on how Morant is doing right now.

"I'm going to keep that in house," Jones said.

Meanwhile, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins revealed in the pre-game conference that there isn't a timetable for Ja Morant's return.

"Ja understands he's made some difficult decisions and poor choices in the past that he's got to account for," Jenkins also said. "He's definitely embracing the mistakes that he's made but only time will tell. We're going to support him and we're going to hold him accountable to make those changes.

"We love him, we want what's best for him, we support him. It's going to be a difficult process but we've got a great group to get through this."

Jenkins described Morant as "a generally amazing person, great family person, a father, brother, son, member of our community."

"My hope is that he just gets better," Jenkins added. "He knows he's got a lot of love and support."

The NBA continue to investigate a social media post in which Morant appeared to be holding a gun.

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