The NBA is investigating Memphis Grizzlies player Ja Morant after he brandished what appears to be a firearm in an Instagram Live video in the early hours of Saturday.
This is reported by ESPN network informant Adrian Wojnarowski.
“We are aware of a social media post involving Ja Morant and are investigating,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.
In said video, Morant films himself dancing and singing in what appears to be a nightclub. At one point, the 23-year-old athlete raises his arm to display an object that looks like a firearm.
The Grizzlies announced Saturday morning that Morant was leaving the team “for at least the next two games,” Sunday and Tuesday. The organization, however, did not give further details.
This is not the first time that Ja Morant has been talked about this week. Wednesday, the Washington Post revealed that the second pick in the 2019 draft was accused in police reports of hitting a 17-year-old teenager in July. The events would have occurred during an improvised match at the player’s home. However, no prosecution has been initiated.
In the police report obtained by the Post, the anonymous teenager accuses Morant of hitting him “12 to 13 times”. In interviews with police, he added that after their altercation, “Morant went to his house and reappeared with a gun visible in the waistband of his pants.”
When questioned by police, Morant admitted to having “swung first”, he said acting in self-defense after the teenager threw a ball which hit him in the head, accompanying his gesture with a comment that Morant found threatening.
Morant’s agent, Jim Tanner, strongly denied in a statement on Wednesday that the player had a firearm.
With Agence France-Presse
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