Ja Morant learns NBA fate after Grizzlies star used gun finger celebration

By JAKE NISSE and ALEX RASKIN

Grizzlies star Ja Morant will not face discipline from the NBA for using gun finger motions towards an opposing team.

It was previously reported that Morant – who has previously been suspended for brandishing actual firearms – and Warriors sharpshooter Buddy Hield were being probed by the league for both making the gestures at each other on Tuesday.

However, ESPN’s Shams Charania has now reported that Morant and Hield will not be punished by the league after receiving warnings.

Charania added that the league determined the celebrations were ‘not intended to be violent in nature, but inappropriate and should refrain.’

Morant has previously served two suspensions totaling 33 games for gunplay, including one incident in which he brandished a pistol at a strip club.

The guard also mimed pointing a gun at Anthony Davis earlier this season.

Morant walks by Jimmy Butler and directs a ‘finger gun’ gesture to the Warriors’ bench

Morant’s history of gunplay had fans calling for another suspension for the Grizzlies star 

Morant was suspended after flashing a firearm on an Instagram Live in March 2023

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.

Just ten weeks later, however, Morant was caught in yet another gun-flashing incident. 

This time, Morant was captured waving the firearm in a car on friend Davonte Pack’s Instagram Live.

The league took its time deliberating its punishment in that instance, before Adam Silver landed on a 25-game suspension.

Buddy Hield (motioning, left) also received a technical foul with Morant for a similar gun gesture

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.

It’s been a tumultuous time for the Grizzlies of late, as the team recently fired coach Taylor Jenkins just ahead of the playoffs.

Jenkins posted a 250-214 record with Memphis over parts of six seasons, and led the team to the playoffs three times.

The team is also set to play postseason basketball this year, as Memphis was fifth in the Western Conference when Jenkins was dismissed.

He was replaced by Grizzlies assistant Tuomas Iisalo on an interim basis.

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Ja Morant learns NBA fate after Grizzlies star used gun finger celebration

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