Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies appeared to flaunt a handgun during an Instagram Live video Saturday morning at a nightclub.
The NBA point guard appearing to brandish a gun comes days after a Washington Post article revealed that Morant had been accused of assaulting a 17-year-old boy at his house over the summer during a pickup game of basketball before flashing a gun at him.
Now Ja Morant showing off his gun on IG live ????????????????
— Sports ON Tap Brothers????️ (@thesportsontap) March 4, 2023
Following Morant’s Instagram post, the Memphis Grizzlies communications department declared that the 23-year-old would be suspended for the next two games.
Statement from the Memphis Grizzlies pic.twitter.com/CLB2TG5nnI
— Grizzlies PR (@GrizzliesPR) March 4, 2023
It appears Morant is doing everything in his power to destroy his career. It’s incomprehensible how tone-deaf he is to do something like this DAYS AFTER a teenager accused him of flashing a gun at him.
Morant is a horrible representative for the NBA. For one of the league’s best players to be apparently brandishing guns and portraying a crook so frequently stains the whole NBA product, in my opinion.
Morant’s gun touting reminds me of the infamous incident between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton of the Washington Wizards from 2009. The two allegedly pointed firearms at each other in the Wizards’ locker room due to an argument stemming from a gambling debt, according to Bleacher Report. (RELATED: Former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook Refuses To Take Open Shots. Is His Confidence Destroyed?)
Arenas admittedly stored a number of firearms in his locker leading up to the incident, the outlet reported, and both players were ultimately suspended for the remainder of the season by David Stern, according to ESPN.
Arenas and Crittenton’s careers were never the same after their standoff. Arenas was traded to the Orlando Magic less than a year later, according to ESPN, and then would play for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2012 before finishing his career playing in China. On the other hand, Crittenton would later plead guilty to the manslaughter of a mother of four in 2011, a crime which earned him 23 years in prison, ESPN reported.
Morant’s suspension will hopefully smarten him up. He’s on a destructive path and is trending towards wrecking his career similar to how Arenas and Crittenton did. The Grizzlies undoubtedly made the correct decision by having Morant step away from the team for a while.
