Memphis star Ja Morant has been sidelined for at least two games after an Instagram video emerged of him brandishing a gun in a nightclub early Saturday.
Morant ‘will be out of the team for at least the next two games,’ the Grizzlies said hours after the footage emerged.
In the meantime, the NBA had reacted first. “We are aware of a social media post implicating Ja Morant and we are investigating,” spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement.
At the start of the video, broadcast live on Instagram, we see the double All-Star (27.1 points and 8.2 average assists), shirtless, briefly holding what appears to be a pistol in his left hand, before to make it disappear from the field. A few hours earlier, he had just lost with Memphis in Denver (113-97) in what constituted the clash of the Western Conference.
On Saturday evening, Morant expressed his apologies in a message posted on his social media, saying he ‘takes full responsibility for (his) actions committed the previous night’.
‘I’m sorry to my family, my teammates, my coaches, my fans, my partners, the city of Memphis and the club for letting you down. I’m going to take some time to get some help and work on better ways to manage my stress and overall well-being,” he added.
Other incriminating cases
If he is one of the new stars of the NBA, with his spectacular game at high altitude, the 23-year-old player has already been talked about outside the courts, in other compromising cases involving him.
According to the Washington Post, Morant was accused last summer of repeatedly punching a 17-year-old boy during a game at his home. The victim added that Morant then went to get a gun, which appeared visible in his belt. However, there were no prosecutions by the local police, ‘for lack of sufficient evidence’ to charge him.
“All allegations involving a firearm have been fully investigated and could not be substantiated,” defended his agent Jim Tanner, in response to the Post article. “That includes the NBA’s investigation last month, in which they found no evidence.”
An investigation following a post-game confrontation between Morant’s entourage and the Indiana Pacers team, following the Grizzlies’ victory at home on January 29. The No. 2 of the 2019 draft is also accused of having threatened the head of security of a supermarket, in which his mother had had an altercation.
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