Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant acknowledged he took full accountability for his actions, in a press launch revealed by U.S. media on Tuesday after one different social media video emerged exhibiting the two-time All-Star holding what seemed to be a gun.
The Grizzlies suspended Morant from all group actions on Sunday, roughly two months after a similar incident that observed him suspended for eight video video games when he appeared in a live-streaming video on Instagram holding a firearm at a nightclub.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me. This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do,” Morant acknowledged in a press launch revealed by ESPN and USA Today.
“My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself.”
Reuters has reached out to his firm for comment.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged they’ve been investigating the incident, admitting he was “shocked” when he observed the video after Morant had appeared to take the first suspension “incredibly seriously” after they spoke.
“We spoke for a long time about not just the consequences that could have on his career but the safety issues around it. He could have injured, maimed, killed himself or someone else with an act like that,” Silver acknowledged at NBA’s draft lottery.
“He has a particularly massive following. My concern, and I believed he shared with me, that tens of a whole lot of hundreds of children globally would see him as having achieved one factor that was celebrating in a way, that act of using a firearm in that model.
“Now, we’re in the process of investigating it and we’ll figure out exactly what happened to the best we can. The video is a bit grainy and all that, but I’m assuming the worst.”
Another suspension would see Morant miss the start of the 2023-24 season, with the Grizzlies not throughout the playoffs after they’ve been knocked out by the Los Angeles Lakers ultimate month.
