After seeing Memphis Grizzlies All-Star Ja Morant in another Instagram Live video holding a firearm, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was «shocked.»
Silver spoke with ESPN’s Malika Andrews about the situation that comes just two months after Morant was suspended eight games for doing the same thing on his own Instagram account while out at a nightclub. This time, Morant was caught on a friend’s Instagram account while they were in a car together.
«Honestly, I was shocked when I saw that video this weekend,» Silver said from the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday. «Now, we’re in the process of looking into it, and we’ll find out exactly what happened to the best of our ability. The video is a little grainy and all, but I’m assuming the worst.»
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Ja Morant attends Saturday Nights at Sound Nightclub on May 6, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Prince Williams/WireImage)
The Instagram account belonged to Morant’s friend Davonte Pack, who was also involved in multiple off-field instances that the league has investigated. He was also suspended from Grizzlies games for one year after getting into a post-game altercation with the Indiana Pacers on January 29.
At the time, the Pacers claimed they saw a red laser pointed at them from an SUV Morant was inside. However, the league’s investigation «was unable to substantiate that any individual threatened others with a weapon.»
Morant’s first incident with a gun came while intoxicated at a club while in Denver to take on the Nuggets.
MEMPHIS RAPPER DEFENDS JA MORANT OVER LATEST INCIDENT: ‘GUNS ARE NOT ILLEGAL’
Morant enrolled in a counseling center in Florida. There, Morant was ready to learn how to better manage stress.
He later traveled to New York City to meet with Silver, who arrived 11 days after the incident in Denver.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media during a news conference following the Board of Governors meeting on September 14, 2022 at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. (David Dow/NBAE via Getty Image)
After the match, Silver set his punishment: Eight games suspended without pay. Silver called Morant’s actions «irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous.»
«Before we got to a later possibility that we did something wrong, we were very focused on the misconduct that was in front of us at the time,» Silver said Tuesday, via ESPN. «Frankly, most of our conversation was about how unbelievably serious the first incident of waving a firearm on social media was.
«As against, the consequences there, an eight-game suspension, were pretty serious and something that he, to me at least, seemed to take incredibly seriously at the time. And we talked for a long time about not just the consequences it could have in his career, but the security problems around him – [Morant] he could have injured, maimed, killed, or another person with an act like that, and also the recognition that he is a star. He has an incredibly large following, and [we discussed] my concern, and I thought he shared with me, that millions, if not tens of millions, of children around the world would have seen him do something that celebrated in some way that act of using a firearm in that way.»
Ja Morant poses with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted with the second overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2019 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 20, 2019 in the borough of Brooklyn. from New York City. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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While the NBA investigates the Morant incident, the Grizzlies have suspended him from all team activities pending league review.