NBA Suspends Ja Morant 25 Games After 2nd Gun Incident

The NBA suspended the young All-Star in March for eight games over a similar incident at a Denver nightclub. Morant appeared on Instagram Live intoxicated and holding a firearm. Here is the first video:

Following the first suspension, Morant publicly apologized for the incident and enrolled in a counseling facility in Florida. Apparently, those lessons did not stick as the Grizzly found himself again in trouble. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver elected to suspend Morant for eight games without pay due to conduct detrimental to the league. The punishment included six games the point guard had already missed, and issued a stern statement calling Morant's conduct "irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous."

Silver decided not to rule on the investigation into Ja Morant until after the NBA finals. In an interview before Game 1, Silver said, “I guess in hindsight, I don't know. If it had been a 12-game suspension instead of an eight-game suspension, would that have mattered? I know it seemed based on precedent, and he's represented, and we want to be fair in terms of the league. It seemed appropriate at the time. That's all I can say. Maybe by definition, to the extent we've all seen the video that it appears he's done it again, I guess you could say maybe not."

The young NBA player still has room for improvement in his character, but maybe, just maybe, missing more than a quarter of the 2023-24 season (25 games) will finally cause him to wake up. Morant averaged 26.2 points this season and helped Memphis secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, where they lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers.