The NBA said they are “investigating” a social media video posted early Saturday morning that appeared to show Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant brandishing a firearm while inside a nightclub.
The Instagram Live video — reportedly uploaded onto Morant’s account just hours after the Grizzlies’ Friday night road loss to the Denver Nuggets — comes just days after a Washington Post report accused Morant of both beating up a 17-year-old boy and threatening a mall security guard during separate incidents in July 2022.
“We are aware of a social media post involving Ja Morant and are investigating,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said Saturday (via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski).
While Morant’s alleged fight with the teenager during a pickup basketball game was previously reported — the boy and his mother sued Morant in Jan. 2023, at which point the incident became widely known — the report earlier this week revealed new details culled from police interviews, including a claim that Morant threatened the teenager with a gun following the physical altercation.
While Morant didn’t pull the gun on the teen, he had his hand on the firearm, the teenager told police. Morant didn’t deny “brandishing” a weapon at the time of his police interview. Witnesses, however, told police that the teenager “squared up” to fight Morant after the ball-throwing incident, and didn’t mention the gun. No charges were filed against Morant.
Morant’s agent called the allegations against his client “unsubstantiated rumors and gossip,” but the All-Star guard has been exceedingly flippant in the aftermath of the Washington Post article, drawing even more controversy when he pretended to shoot an opponent while celebrating a Grizzlies three-pointer earlier this week:
Both July 2022 incidents in the Washington Post report came months before The Athletic reported that members of Morant’s entourage had a heated exchange with players on the Indiana Pacers during and following a game against the Memphis Grizzlies this season. As the Pacers loaded up onto their team bus postgame, an SUV that reportedly carried Morant drove past and put a red laser on members of the Indiana team, with one Pacers’ security person stating at the time “That’s 100 percent a gun.”
However, the NBA — after reviewing video footage — could not corroborate the allegation, and no punishment was handed down following the Pacers incident.
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