The Ja Morant fallout has continued.
The 25-year-old dominated headlines on Tuesday after he made a gun gesture that stunned Steph Curry during the Memphis Grizzlies‘ 125-134 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
The NBA star appeared to use his hands and arms to mimic shooting a gun towards the Warriors’ bench.
The Grizzlies guard received an intense backlash over his actions, given his well-documented history with firearms and subsequent 25- game suspension during the 2023-24 NBA season.
Per ESPN, the NBA is investigating Morant’s behaviour and will also probe Golden State’s Buddy Hield’s involvement.
Fresh footage has revealed that Hield appeared to make a gesture before Morant’s finger guns motion.
Some believed this indicated Morant was simply responding to Hield, who is the one who actually instigated the exchange.
However, fans have pointed out that Hield was simply doing his ‘ice in the veins’ celebration, for which he has become well known for.
“That’s not finger guns,” one fan said.
“That’s ice in his veins, meaning Jimmy Butler scored the free throws in a very serious time to win the game.”
Amid the scrutiny, NFL legend turned popular media personality Shannon Sharpe — who famously got into it with Ja’s father Tee during a game — has chimed in on Morant’s behaviour.
The Hall of Famer criticised Morant and told him to be smarter.
“Given Ja’s history, you would think he’d be smarter than that,” Sharpe said on his podcast NightCap.
“Ja, just gotta be smarter, I get it, he’s young, but they’ll take your money.
“You hear talk at one point, they thought he could be the face of the league, now they talking about can they win with Ja, could he be a second option.”
When Sharpe refers to Morant’s history, he is talking about the fact that the two-time All-Star has twice been suspended by the NBA due to brandishing a firearm on social media
The first incident occurred in March 2023, when a gun appeared on his Instagram live stream while partying at a nightclub.
The NBA issued an indefinite suspension at the time which would last for eight games.
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The second incident saw him suspended for the first 25 games of the 2023-24 season for conduct detrimental to the league after he brandished a firearm during an Instagram live stream on his friend’s account in May 2023.
Amid the criticism, Morant has taken to social media to respond to everything with a series of cryptic messages.
“‘Ja this… Ja that…,’ the guard posted on X.
He then added, ‘God bless y’all.’”
The NBA has fined players for making gun-related gestures on the court in the past.
In 2017, then-Phoenix Suns forward Josh Jackson was fined $35,000 for making a gesture toward a fan that appeared to mimic pulling a trigger.
And Gerald Green, then with the Miami Heat, was docked $25,000 for making a similar gesture in 2015.
Ultimately, the biggest concern for the Grizzlies will be the form they are in.
They have lost seven of their last eight games, including three straight since they shockingly parted ways with former head coach Taylor Jenkins last week.
Having sat second in the seedings at the end of February, the Grizz now find themselves sixth in the Western Conference, just one game away from falling out of the automatic playoff positions.
