People in NBA circles fear Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant may not be alive in five years, according to Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.
Morant was caught flashing a gun on an IG Live video in May for a second time. The first incident happened in March.
“I can tell you that people within the NBA community are not just concerned about Ja Morant playing basketball,” Smith said on the Rich Eisen Show. “They’re concerned about whether or not he’s going to be alive in five years because of the environments that he finds himself around and the situations he finds himself confronted by. It’s a serious matter and it’s something that I think the NBA and everybody that knows anything about the kind of things that are going on with him find themselves concerned about.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Ja Morant & Memphis Grizzlies Updates
According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Morant could be headed for a “significant suspension” after his latest gun video. The Grizzlies star was suspended for eight games in March after his first gun video.
“This is a situation that is wide-ranging,” Windhorst said on Get Up. “And quite frankly, the indication here is that this is gonna be a significant suspension.”
Morant signed a five-year, $194.3 million designated rookie contract extension with Memphis in July 2022. He averaged 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 8.1 assists this season while shooting 46.6% from the field, 30.7% from beyond the arc and 74.8% from the free-throw line.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Ja Morant & Memphis Grizzlies Updates
The Grizzlies lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2023 playoffs in six games. Morant has been suspended from all offseason activities.
Prior to Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets, commissioner Adam Silver told reporters in Denver that he would wait to announce Morant’s suspension since he didn’t want to cause a distraction during the Finals.
“We’ve uncovered a fair amount of additional information I think since I was first asked about the situation,” Silver said. “I will say we probably could have brought it to a head now, but we made the decision, and I believe the players association agrees with us, that it would be unfair to these players and these teams in the middle of the series to announce the results of that investigation.”
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