NBA Investigating Grizzlies Star Amidst Two Game Suspension
Memphis Grizzlies superstar point guard Ja Morant will miss the team's next two games after posting a live video on Instagram of him in a club appearing to flash a gun at the camera.
Saturday afternoon, the Grizzlies issued a statement saying that Morant would be away from the team for their next two games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers.
The NBA has also announced that they are launching their own investigation into Morant.
"We are aware of a social media post involving Ja Morant and are investigating," NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement on Saturday.
Going onto Instagram around 5:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, Morant was shirtless in what appeared to be s strip club and was seen holding up a gun with his left hand.
If the league finds any wrongdoing on the young guard's part, the NBA can fine and suspend him.
The Grizzlies are currently the 2-seed in the Western Conference and Morant recently made his second straight All-Star Game appearance.
This is not the first time Ja Morant has been in the news for possessing a gun, as The Washington Post reported recently that the Grizzlies star was accused of assault and flashing a gun at a 17-year-old.
According to records obtained by the Washington Post, Morant was accused of threatening the head of security at a mall in Memphis during a parking lot altercation in the summer. In addition, Morant is also being accused of punching a 17-year-old boy in the head repeatedly during a pickup game at the 23-year-old’s house a few days after the incident at the mall. No arrests were made in either situation.
In the reports, it is said that Morant went into his house after hitting the 17-year-old boy and “re-emerged with a gun visible in the waistband of his pants and his hand on the weapon.” Morant told the police that the teen was the aggressor in this incident and that he threw a ball at his head and stepped towards him, so Morant acted in self-defense.
Memphis will also be without Dillon Brooks for their next game, who picked up his 16th technical foul of the season and will be suspended one game as a result, and they also lost Brandon Clarke in Friday night's game against the Denver Nuggets, who suffered a torn left Achilles.
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