NBA suspends Ja Morant 25 games for 2nd video involving a gun

Memphisguard Ja Morant has been suspended 25 games by the NBA — his secondban in four months — and Commissioner Adam Silver made clear Fridaythe star must stop his “alarming” habit of flashing guns on socialmedia.

Thesuspensionfor the upcoming seasoncomes a month after a second videoof Morantflashinga handgunwas streamed online. The video of Morant showinga gun while sitting in the passenger seat of a car was posted afterhiseight-gamesuspensionin March for a video in which he flashed ahandgun in a Denver-area strip club.

Morant isdue to make around $33.5 million this season. He now stands to losejust over $300,000 per game — or approximately $7.5 million. Healso will have to adhere to certain conditions before beingreinstated, the NBA said.

Silver madeclear thetwo-timeAll-Star’sdecision-making is “disconcerting.”

“Thepotential for other young people to emulate Ja’s conduct isparticularly concerning,” Silver said. “Under these circumstances,we believe a suspension of 25 games is appropriate and makes clearthat engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns willnot be tolerated.”

The leaguesaid Morant “will be ineligible to participate in any public leagueor team activities, including preseason games” during hissuspension.

TheGrizzlies suspended Morant indefinitely from team activities afterthe second video surfaced, and they said Friday they respect thepunishment for this “latest episode.”

“Ourstandards as a league and team are clear, and we expect that allteam personnel will adhere to them,” the Grizzlies said.

Morantapologized again Friday to the league, the Grizzlies, his teammatesand the city of Memphis in a statement issued through hisrepresentatives. He specifically told Silver, Grizzlies ownerRobert Pera and Memphis general manager Zach Kleiman he issorry.

The guardwith his own signature Nike shoe also apologized to children wholook up to him for failing them as a role model. Morant made clearhe’s had time to reflect and understands the hurt he might havecaused.

“I promiseI’m going to be better. To all of my sponsors, I’m going to be abetter representation of our brands. And to all of my fans, I’mgoing to make it up to you, I promise,” Morant said.

Morant saidhe’ll keep working on both his mental health anddecision-making.

On May 24,policeconducteda welfare checkon Morant and said he was “fine” aftercryptic messages appeared on the guard’s Instagram account only tobe deleted. A police spokesman said Morant told officers he was“taking a break from social media.”

“I hopeyou’ll give me the chance to prove to you over time I’m a betterman than what I’ve been showing you,” Morant said Friday.

NBPAexecutive director Tamika Tremaglio said the players associationthinks the NBA went too far punishing Morant, calling it “excessiveand inappropriate” and inconsistent with the league’s pastdiscipline.

“We willexplore with Ja all options and next steps,”Tremaglio said in astatement.

Nike alsois sticking with Morant, whose Ja 1 shoe line debuted earlier thisyear.

“We arepleased that Ja is taking accountability and prioritizing hiswell-being,” Nike said.

Silver’sstance is clear: Morant’s actions, even without being charged witha crime, have severe consequences, particularly with gun violence amassive problem and the guard one of the league’s most popularplayers.

“Wavingthem around ... is not consistent with gun safety and is not theproper message that an NBA player, particularly one at Ja’s level,should be sending to the tens of millions of followers he has — andparticularly when it’s an incident once again, where it’s beenstreamed live on social media,” Silver said earlier this month atthe NBA Finals.

Thesuspension almost certainly means that Morant will not be eligiblefor any end-of-season awards in 2024, such as MVP and All-NBA.Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that goes into effectJuly 1, a player must appear in 65 games (with limited exceptions)to be eligible.

It’s alsoreasonable to think Morant will miss the league’s inauguralin-season tournament expected to start this fall and end sometimein December. The league has yet to announce if the tournament isdefinitely happening, nor has it released the schedule.

Silver saidbasketball needs to take a back seat for Morant before he canreturn to the NBA. Morant will have to finish a program with theleague addressing the issues Silver said “led him to repeat thisdestructive behavior.”

Morant’seight-game suspension cost him about $669,000 in forfeited salaryafter the first video surfaced on March 4 on his own Instagramaccount.

The secondvideo captured May 13 was widely shared online after being streamedby a Morant associate. That was the same friendMorantsaid in February had been bannedfrom the Grizzlies’ homearena for a year over a confrontation with members of the IndianaPacers organization a week earlier.