Memphis has suspended two-time All-Star guard Ja Morant for its game Sunday at the Toronto Raptors, with the Grizzlies citing what they described as conduct detrimental to the team.
Morant scored only eight points in Memphis’ 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. He had a brief postgame interview session, with most of his answers some form of “Go ask the coaching staff.”
Morant also seemed disengaged at times in that game, even walking
a few steps away from the bench area during a time-out in the second half.
Asked about what happened in the game, Morant said, “Go ask them,” referring to the coaching staff. He did not score in the second half.
He did give a different answer when asked if he felt like he should have played more or what could have gone differently.
“According to them, probably don’t play me, honestly,” Morant said. “That’s what basically the message was, after. It’s cool.”
Morant played 8 minutes, 25 seconds in the fourth quarter on Friday, more than any other Memphis player. He logged 16:11 of on-court time in the second half, second-most on the team; Jaren Jackson Jr. played 16:20 after halftime. Morant missed all seven of his shots in the second half.
This suspension is the latest in a long series of disciplinary actions with Morant in recent years.
He was suspended twice in 2023 for incidents with guns, those two events costing him 33 games and about $8.3 million in salary.
The first was an eight-game ban for the live streaming of a video in which he displayed a firearm while in an intoxicated state at a Denver-area nightclub. The other was a 25-game ban after posing with a firearm in a car during another live-streamed video, when the league said Morant “wielded the firearm while knowing that he was being recorded and that the recording was being live streamed on Instagram Live, despite having made commitments to the NBA and public statements that he would not repeat the conduct for which he was previously disciplined.”
He was fined $75,000 last season for an aiming-a-gun gesture to celebrate making 3-pointers. The league called the gesture “inappropriate,” adding that “Morant was previously warned by the league office that this gesture could be interpreted in a negative light.”
Morant is making about $39.4 million this season and is in the third year of a five-year, $197.2 million contract. He's averaging 20.8 points per game through six outings so far this season.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
