NBA star Ja Morant recently made headlines for more than basketball. Morant, 23, has been in the news after a police report revealed that last summer, he “flashed” a gun at a 17-year-old after punching him 12 to 13 times at his mansion in Tennessee, reported Daily Mail. After performing a gun celebration on the court hours later, the Memphis Grizzlies player, a two-time All-Star in the NBA, has once again sparked controversy. An Instagram clip was widely shared on Twitter shortly after it was posted to Morant’s page. In it, he appears to lift a gun up to his head while dancing topless in a strip club. While Morant laughs with his friends, topless women can be seen dancing in the background of the video.
After it was revealed that Morant’s actions were under investigation by the NBA, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Grizzlies had banned him for “at least two games.” In addition, he said the Grizzlies indicated Morant “will be away from the franchise for at least Sunday at Clippers and Tuesday at Lakers,” Daily Mail reported. A few hours later, Morant released a statement explaining he would be taking time away from the game to focus on his well-being. “I take full responsibility for my actions last night,” he said. “I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down. “I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.” It is the fourth recent controversy relating to guns involving the NBA star.
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In September, Morant was sued for punching a Tennessee teenager in the face during a pickup game, but he claims he acted in self-defense. In response to the police report regarding Morant’s actions, some in the media expressed displeasure, including Shannon Sharpe, who had an altercation with Ja’s father, Tee Morant, earlier this season, according to Daily Mail. “I’ve said it before, Ja, you’re going to have to move differently,” Sharpe advised. “You’re in a different stratosphere now. I just think he needs to conduct himself as a person that’s in that same stratosphere. “He portrays that he is like something that he is not … He’s hustling backwards … Ja, just move differently, bruh…”I would never give you any advice on how to play basketball, but I would try to give you some advice on how to move,” Sharpe continued. “Let somebody else’s lesson be your lesson … Ja there are a lot of lessons out there for you to learn without having to learn that same lesson through your own hardship, that’s all I would say to him.”
