Reportedly A New Video Of Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant Is Going Viral
On Friday morning, the NBA officially announced that Memphis Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant will be suspended for the first 25 games of the 2023-24 season.
Morant was seen (last month) in a viral video where he was allegedly holding a gun.
During the regular season, the two-time NBA All-Star was suspended eight games for a similar incident.
Via NBA Communications on Friday morning: "The NBA announced today that Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been suspended 25 games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league."
Following the viral video, Claudia Jordan of The Breakfast Club reported that she was hearing (from her sources) that Morant was holding a fake gun.
Jordan via The Breakfast Club on June 5: "My sources say that the relative in the car in the backseat had a toy gun in the car. The gun is not real. And was playing around with it, passed it over to Ja and that got caught on the live."
On Saturday, TMZ released a video that is going viral, which reportedly shows Morant potentially proving that the gun was fake (the day after the incident).
Via TMZ's tweet: "Video Shows Ja Morant Playing with Toy Gun Day After 2nd Firearm Incident"
The video from TMZ was reposted on Twitter by Daily Loud and there are over six million impressions in less than four hours.
Regardless of the ultimate truth, Morant will still miss the first 25 games of next season based on the league's announcement.
Following the news of his suspension, the former Murray State star released a public statement (via ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski).
Morant via his statement: "I've had time to reflect and I realize how much hurt I've caused. I want to apologize to the NBA, the Grizzlies, my teammates and the city of Memphis. To Adam Silver, Zach Kleiman and Robert Pera — who gave me the opportunity to be a professional athlete and have supported me — I'm sorry for the harm I've done. To the kids who look up to me, I'm sorry for failing you as a role model. I promise I'm going to be better. To all of my sponsors, I'm going to be a better representation of our brands. And to all of my fans, I'm going to make it up to you, I promise.
I'm spending the offseason and my suspension continuing to work on my own mental health and decision making. I'm also going to be training so that I'm ready to go when I can be back on the court. I know my teammates are going to hold it down and I'm so sorry I won't be out there with you at the beginning of the season.
I hope you'll give me the chance to prove to you over time I'm a better man than what I've been showing you."
The 23-year-old will enter his fifth season in the NBA after being selected as the second pick in the 2019 Draft.
He has led the Grizzlies to the NBA Playoffs for three straight seasons and is coming off a year where he averaged a sensational 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.1 steals per contest while shooting 46.6% from the field.
