Ja Morant is the talk of the NBA.
The 25-year-old has been under fire for his celebrations in recent weeks, with Charles Barkley slamming the Memphis Grizzlies guard on Thursday’s episode of Inside the NBA.
After being fined $75,000 for pulling out a gun gesture last week, Morant has decided to find a different weapon to celebrate his latest 3-pointers
The league’s initial fine for Morant came on April 4 after he twice made what was considered an “inappropriate” imaginary gun-aiming gesture on the court.
However the league were first concerned about him after the April 1 home game against the Golden State Warriors.
The Grizzlies leading scorer them acted like he was pulling a pin out of a grenade before tossing it into the crowd recently.
Morant’s behaviour has inevitably seen him draw intense criticism.
Barkley slammed the guard for his grenade celebration during halftime of the Wolves-Grizzlies game on Thursday, calling his antics ‘immature.’
“I know one person’s happy right now,” Barkley said.
“Taylor Jenkins ain’t got to deal with this crap. He’s going to get another job that he deserves. [He’s saying], ‘I don’t have to deal with this immature stuff.’”
While fellow Inside the NBA analyst Kenny Smith pointed out Morant’s track record with weapons.
“He has a history that maybe he should leave the celebrations where people might die alone,” Smith said.
Shaquille O’Neal added: “He knows what he’s doing because y’all are going to keep talking about it.”
Morant is clearly undeterred though.
In his side’s 141-125 loss T-Wolves, he appeared to fire a pretend machine gun, despite being 15 points down at the time.
“Apparently, fines are meaningless with how much these guys get paid…”one fan said.
“He might be the dumbest athlete alive and that’s saying a lot,” wrote another.
“I’m waiting for him to pull out a bazooka,” joked another.
For Morant he has already made everyone aware he won’t be changing his latest celebrations until he is told to do so.
“That’s my celebration now until somebody else has a problem with it, and I’ll find another one,” Morant said.
“Listen, it’s not what you think it is. I’m taking my words, and I’m throwing them out there,” he added.
“I’m speaking Ja. I’m being Ja. I’m going to take my words, I’m going to throw them out there, and then I’m going to block out the noise. And that’s what I’m doing. So when you see me do that, that’s what I’m doing. I’m saying what I got to say to the world, and I’m blocking out the noise in the midst of what’s coming back my way. And that’s how it’s going to be.”
The NBA star’s latest antics is the culmination of several questionable incidents involving firearms that have resulted in the league taking action.
His first suspension was an eight-game ban in 2023 for the live streaming of a video in which he displayed a firearm while at a Denver-area nightclub.
The second was a 25-game ban for the start of the 23/24 season after he posed with a firearm in a car during another live-streamed video.
At the time the league said Morant “wielded the firearm while knowing that he was being recorded.”
For the Grizzlies, Morant’s behaviour comes amid a struggle for them.
Their loss against the Timberwolves sees them slip down to seventh in the Western Conference standings and outside the automatic play positions.
They now need a result against the Denver Nuggets and hope the Warriors slip up in order to avoid the play-ins
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