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Ja Morant is facing calls for his suspension after the Memphis Grizzlies star pretended to point guns at Golden State Warriors players during Tuesday’s loss.
Morant wasn’t alone in doing a ‘finger gun’ gesture as both he and Golden State’s Buddy Hield were given technical fouls for pointing at each other. Of course, Hield doesn’t have Morant’s history with firearms.
Morant has previously served two suspensions totaling 33 games for gunplay, including one incident in which he brandished a pistol at a strip club. And while Tuesday’s incident did not involve a real firearm, fans were nonetheless upset to see Morant’s pantomime.
‘Ja Morant literally just pretended he was shooting a gun at the Warriors’ bench,’ one fan wrote on social media. ‘And that’s the guy you want to be the identity of your franchise Memphis? Pathetic. Suspend his a** again @NBA.’
‘Dude will never EVER learn,’ another added.
However, not everyone was convinced Morant’s gesture was quite so objectionable.
Morant walks by Jimmy Butler and directs a ‘finger gun’ gesture to the Warriors’ bench
Buddy Hield (motioning, left) also received a technical foul with Morant for a similar gesture
Morant’s history of gunplay has fans calling for another suspension for the Grizzlies star
‘He pointing,’ one fan argued. ‘I don’t see a trigger finger. Ease up drama queens.’
Several Warriors players are seen reacting to Morant, including Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Hield, who was standing off the court along the Golden State bench.
This is not the first time Morant has made the gesture this season. While sidelined for a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in November, Morant mimed pointing a gun at Anthony Davis.
‘Ja Morant doing the shooting gun fingers at AD is crazy,’ one fan wrote on X. ‘This man will never learn.’
The NBA has yet to rule on any punishment for Morant, but other players have been punished for similar incidents. For instance, Phoenix Suns forward Josh Jackson was fined $35,000 in 2017 for making a ‘menacing gesture’ towards a fan.
The NFL has also begun fining players for any firearm-related celebration.
Morant’s history with guns is well documented.
On March 3, 2023, Morant flashed a gun on an Instagram Live video in Shotgun Willie’s, a strip club in Glendale, Colorado, following a loss to the Denver Nuggets.
The move sparked severe backlash with the NBA handing down an eight-game suspension to Morant, who checked himself into a private counseling facility in Colorado.
Morant was suspended after flashing a firearm on an Instagram Live in March 2023
Morant was seen with a gun on an Instagram Live video for a second time in May 2023
But eight games seemingly weren’t enough to drive the message home. Just ten weeks later, Morant was caught in yet another gun-flashing incident. This time, having not learnt his lesson, Morant was captured waving the firearm in a car on friend Davonte Pack’s Instagram Live.
Once again Morant faced blowback, this time bigger than ever. It was the second incident of this nature in three months and the league took its time deliberating its punishment, before Adam Silver landed on a 25-game suspension.
The NBA commissioner branded Morant’s conduct ‘alarming and disconcerting’ and ‘reckless and irresponsible,’ noting that the star is a role model for many children.
The ban forced Morant to miss a large chunk to start the 2023-24 season with the star finally making his return on December 19, 2023.
The Grizzlies have endured a rocky stretch, losing eight of their last ten as head coach Taylor Jenkins was fired ahead of the playoffs, which begin later this month. The 44-32 Grizzlies are in danger of falling into seventh in the Western Conference standings, meaning they’d be forced to play in the play-in tournament to qualify for the postseason.
