Ja Morant spoke out Tuesday night time about his newest troubles, three days after the Memphis guard apparently held a firearm once more whereas being broadcast on social media and was suspended by the Grizzlies from all staff actions.
He’s additionally being investigated by the NBA for his actions, two months after the league suspended him for primarily the identical factor — displaying a gun on social media.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant mentioned in a press release launched Tuesday night time by his representatives. “This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. 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.”
His feedback got here a couple of hours after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment over the state of affairs. Silver handed down an eight-game suspension in March; there isn’t any approach of realizing but what penalties Morant might face this time.
“Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,” Silver mentioned in a televised interview earlier than the draft lottery in Chicago. “We’re in the process of investigating it and we’ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video’s a bit grainy and all that, but I’m assuming the worst. We’ll figure out exactly what happened there.”
The first video, which value Morant about $669,000 in forfeited wage, got here out in March. The second was captured Saturday night time and extensively shared on-line. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant affiliate Davonte Pack, an individual acquainted with the state of affairs informed The Associated Press, talking on situation of anonymity as a result of the Grizzlies haven’t commented on the specifics of the most recent video.
The video streamed by Pack exhibits Morant briefly showing to show a handgun. At the very temporary second — possibly lower than a second — when Morant is proven holding what seems to be a weapon as he sits within the passenger seat of a automobile, the stay stream had 111 viewers.
“He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that,” Silver mentioned. “And also the acknowledgement that he’s a star. He has an incredibly huge following. And my concern — and I thought he shared with me — that millions if not tens of millions of kids globally would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in that fashion.”
Morant mentioned in March that he wanted to work on himself, and when the season ended a few weeks in the past, he provided related ideas.
“Being disciplined on both sides, off the court making better decisions and on the court being locked in even more,” Morant mentioned. “Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. … I’ve got to be better in that area.”Morant and Pack are also concerned in a civil lawsuit introduced after an incident at Morant’s residence final summer season, through which a then-17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12, accusing the teenager of slander, battery and assault.
