NBA commissioner Adam Silver admits he’s ‘shocked’ and ‘assuming the worst’ after Ja Morant brandished a gun again on Instagram – two months after meeting the Grizzlies star about strip club gun scandal
NBA commissioner Adam Silver admitted he was “shocked” when the latest video of Ja Morant’s flashing gun resurfaced just weeks after he had a meeting with the young star about his previous incident.
The Memphis Grizzlies suspended Morant “from all team activities” on Sunday after he was seen brandishing a gun on Instagram for the second time in two months.
Morant was seen on Instagram Live in the driver’s seat of a car holding a gun while singing rapper YoungBoy NBA’s song “1.5.”
The clip comes just two months after Silver held a meeting with Morant in New York, while the Grizzlies star was away from the team after he was seen at a Denver strip club holding a gun on an Instagram video that sparked a police and league investigation.
League commissioner Silver said he believed Morant understood the seriousness of the first incident and was therefore left in disbelief when the second clip surfaced over the weekend.
Ja Morant appeared on an Instagram Live video on Saturday – where he was seen with a gun
NBA commissioner Adam Silver admitted he was “shocked” by the latest incident
“Honestly, I was shocked when I saw this weekend – this video,” he told ESPN ahead of Tuesday night’s NBA draft lottery.
“Now we are investigating. We’ll find out exactly what happened as best we can. Again, the video is grainy and all that, but I guess the worst.
Morant’s incident in March showed him dancing topless in a strip club before raising a gun to the side of his head.
Hours after the incident, it was reported that the incident was under investigation by the NBA and that Morant had been banned for “at least two games” by the Grizzlies while the investigation into the incident continued.
Morant then released a statement taking responsibility for his actions and explaining that he would be taking time off the game to work on his well-being.
“I take full responsibility for my actions last night,” he said. “I’m sorry to my family, my teammates, my coaches, my fans, my partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down.
“I will take time to get support and work on learning better ways to manage stress and my overall well-being.”
An investigation by police in Glendale, Colorado resulted in no criminal charges and found no wrongdoing.
However, while Morant took time off for his well-being, which included a brief stint at a treatment center in Florida, he met Silver where he was told he would be suspended for eight games – including time. which he had already purged. .
Silver revealed on Tuesday that he also discussed with him the seriousness of Morant’s actions and that he felt the ringleader understood the seriousness.
“We talked directly about the consequences of the first one before getting to a later potential of having done something wrong,” Silver said when asked by ESPN if he informed Morant of the later consequences if an incident similar happened again.
“We were very focused on the misconduct that was ahead of us at the time. Frankly, most of our conversation focused on the incredible seriousness of the first incident – that of brandishing a gun on social media.
“Again, the consequences there – an eight-game suspension was pretty serious and something that, to me at least, he seemed to be taking very seriously at the time.
“We spoke at length, not only about the consequences this could have on his career, but also about the security issues surrounding him – he could have maimed, injured, killed himself or someone else. with an act like that – and also recognizing that he’s a star, he has an incredibly huge following, and my concern, and I thought he shared it with me, was that millions, if not tens of millions children around the world would see him as having done something that was celebrated. At least I had the feeling that he took it incredibly seriously.
More soon.
