Ja Morant made a boneheaded decision, again, but has avoided any form of harsh punishment by the NBA.
The Memphis Grizzlies star was reportedly under investigation by the league after acting like he was aiming an imaginary gun at Buddy Hield and the Golden State Warriors‘ bench during Memphis’ loss to the Warriors on Tuesday.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the NBA ultimately decided to issue warnings to Morant, Hield, and both teams, while ruling that “the celebrations were not intended to be violent in nature, but inappropriate and should refrain.” Neither Morant nor Hield were fined, nor do they face any suspension.
Gun gesture celebrations on the floor have become common in basketball, both at the college and NBA level. Morant’s decision to do it against the Warriors was highly questionable and dumbfounding for two different reasons.
First and foremost, Morant was seen on Instagram Live brandishing an actual gun twice in two months during the 2023 season and was hit with a 25-game suspension. On top of that, Morant pulled out his ‘gun’ on the floor against the Warriors with the game essentially over.
Ja Morant Fined For Incredibly Dumb Decision That May Have Cost Grizzlies Win
After Jimmy Butler hit free throws to give Golden State a 132-125 lead with 20 seconds left in the contest, this is when Morant thought it was a good opportunity to pull out the finger guns.
Both Morant and Hield were given technical fouls for their antics on the floor in Memphis on Tuesday night.
While the entire situation was immature and certainly didn’t help the reputation that Morant has picked up in recent years, it looks even worse given the fact that the game marked Memphis’ eighth loss in its last 10 games.
The Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins with nine games left in the regular season, are 0-3 since his departure, and continue to slip down the Western Conference standings with the postseason fast approaching.
