NEW YORK — On Friday (Saturday in Manila), the NBA fined Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant $75,000 for making his pretend gun signal twice within one week as part of celebrating a score.
The NBA’s executive vice president Joe Dumars stated that Morant, who faced two suspensions in 2023 due to incidents involving actual guns, received a warning from the league following his initial celebratory act. The league informed him that such an action might be perceived negatively. Dumars described the behavior as “inappropriate.”
Morant received his initial warning when he and Golden State’s Buddy Hield performed the gesture of pretending to aim a gun at each other during the Grizzlies-Warriors game on Tuesday.
Morant subsequently performed comparable actions during a match against the Miami Heat on Thursday, with these signals aimed at his fellow Grizzlies teammates.
Morant notched 30 points and hit the decisive shot as the Grizzlies secured a 110-108 win against Miami.
In 2023, Morant faced suspension twice, accumulating to a total of 33 games, following incidents where he was seen brandishing guns in videos that went viral on social platforms.
In March of 2023 he was banned eight games for live streaming a video in which he displayed a gun while at a Denver nightclub.
He faced a ban of 25 games for the 2023-24 season following another incident where he was seen with a gun inside a vehicle in a video. The league commented that his choice to “yet again brandish a weapon on social media remains disturbing and concerning.”
The National Basketball Players Association deemed the 25-game ban as "too harsh." AFP