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Morant back in video with gun

NBA pro Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies has apologized again after his second suspension in a short time and promised to get better. “I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant said in a statement released Tuesday evening (local time). “This is a journey and I am aware that there is still a lot to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full responsibility for my actions. I am determined to keep working on myself.”

The basketball pro was seen on stream with what appeared to be a gun for the second time in less than three months. The first time, the NBA suspended him for eight games in March, losing about $669,000 in salary. What happens now – the Grizzlies were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers – is unclear. The Grizzlies initially excluded Morant from all team activities.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was shocked that the investigation into the repeated incident is ongoing. “He could have injured, maimed or killed himself or someone else with such an act,” Silver told ESPN. Morant has an incredibly large fan base. “And my concern is – and I thought he shared it with me – that millions, if not tens of millions, of children around the world would see him as if he had done something that in some ways involved the use of a firearm celebrated in this way.” In the USA there are shootings every day, time and again children die in amok sprees.

The investigation into the second video is the NBA’s third known investigation into misconduct by Morant, who is by far the highest-paid professional on the Grizzlies’ roster and will earn $194 million from next season ) should earn over five years. He has contracts with Nike and Powerade, but the beverage company pulled a commercial starring Morant immediately after the March video.

Spurs are likely to secure Wembanyama

The San Antonio Spurs, meanwhile, will be the first pick in the NBA post-season draft and will likely have a new home for exceptional talent Victor Wembanyama. This resulted in the draw of the order for the 14 worst teams of the last main round on Tuesday evening (local time) in Chicago. The 19-year-old Frenchman is considered the biggest talent since LeBron James came to the league 20 years ago. Some pundits say Wembanyama, nicknamed Wemby, is already better than James at the start of his NBA career.

Wembanyama watched the draw in Paris. “You get a team player. I will do everything to win as many games as possible. I want to win a ring as soon as possible. Be ready,” he told ESPN. “He is unique. He has the size, the skills, he can dribble, he can throw. In the end, we’ve never seen him the way he is,” said national team captain Dennis Schröder of the German Press Agency before the draw.

The draft is on June 22nd. The teams secure the rights to the registered young players one after the other. The weakest teams of the previous season have the best chance of getting the first so-called picks. After the Spurs, it’s the Charlotte Hornets’ turn. Third place went to the Portland Trail Blazers, fourth place to the Houston Rockets.

Lakers lose Play-off-Partie

The Denver Nuggets meanwhile won their home game against the Los Angeles Lakers around national team captain Schröder at the start of the Conference Finals. The number one seeded team led by Nikola Jokic was 21 points ahead at times, but still had to tremble at the end of the game in the 132:126 against the record champions from Los Angeles. Jokic, voted most valuable player in the league in the past two seasons, scored 34 points. Anthony Davis was the top pitcher for the Lakers with 40 points. Los Angeles star LeBron James had 26 points and missed the equalizer with a three-goal attempt at 126:129 with 45 seconds to go.

Schröder started again and finished the game with 6 points and 5 assists, Austin Reaves, who may play for the German national team in the future, scored 23 points for the Lakers. “We were really good in the first half, we controlled the game, controlled everything,” Jokic told ESPN. “We lost that in the second half. They are a really good team.”

In the best-of-seven series, a team needs four wins to advance to the NBA Finals and have a shot at the title. Both teams last faced each other in a conference final in 2020. At that time, the Lakers prevailed in the Corona bubble in Orlando and then won the 17th title in their history. In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics determine the other finalist. Game one in this series is Thursday night.

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