CNN
—
With three injuries, the Memphis Grizzlies have taken another player off their court. But this time because of investigations into the team’s star player.
The Grizzlies lost their second straight game on Tuesday without star guard Ja Morant, who was under investigation by police after the 23-year-old posted an Instagram Live video of him appearing to be holding a gun at a nightclub outside of Denver on Saturday.
Although police have now decided not to press charges, the two-time All-Star point guard is the subject of an NBA investigation, a league spokesperson told CNN.
Morant, through his representation on Saturday, apologized for his actions after Memphis announced his departure from the team.
Morant said he would take time off “to get help and work on learning better methods of coping with stress and my overall well-being.”
Memphis head coach Taylor Jenkins said on Sunday there is no timetable for Morant’s return. The team tweeted that on Wednesday Morant will certainly miss four more gamesmeaning he won’t be returning until March 17.
Morant averages 27.1 points per game in his fourth NBA season.
The Instagram video, posted early Saturday morning and widely shared on social media, shows Morant briefly flashing what appears to be a gun while listening to music at a nightclub.
The police department in Glendale, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, said Wednesday that the agency will not recommend charges against Morant.
“(The department) was unable to determine that there was probable cause for the filing of charges. In this case, it should be noted that police did not receive any calls for service at the nightclub regarding a weapon of any type on the night in question,” department officials said in a statement.
No one filed a complaint, and investigators concluded that no one was threatened or threatened with a gun, police said.
CNN
” data-fave-thumbnails=”{“big”: { “uri”: “https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230305065850-video-thumbnail-ja-morant-gun-livestream.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” }, “small”: { “uri”: “https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230305065850-video-thumbnail-ja-morant-gun-livestream.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” } }” data-vr-video=”” data-show-html=”” data-check-event-based-preview=”” data-network-id=”” data-details=””>
‘Most Exciting Young Star’ Dismissed From NBA Court After Gun Controversy
It is not known why Morant carried a gun or whether it belonged to him. The Grizzlies played the Rockets in Houston on March 1 before heading to Denver for a game against the Nuggets on March 3.
If Morant brought the weapon onto team facilities – which includes the team plane – he is subject to NBA discipline under the collective bargaining agreement (CAO).
The CBA states that players are prohibited from carrying firearms while they are “physically present in a facility or location owned, operated, or used by a team, the NBA, or any League-related entity, and when a player travels on an NBA-related business, whether on behalf of the player’s team, the NBA, or a league-related entity”
If a player violates the ruling in the collective labor agreement, he may be fined and/or suspended.
“The commissioner shall have the power to suspend the suspension for a definite or indefinite period of time, or to impose a fine not exceeding $50,000, or to impose both such suspension and a fine on any person who in his opinion is guilty made to harmful or harmful conduct.” to the Association”, says the CBA.
While it’s unclear what punishment Morant could receive, the most recent example of a gun-related incident came in the 2009/10 season when Gilbert Arenas, a three-time All-Star, was suspended until the end of the season – 50 games – for the bringing unloaded guns into his team’s locker room and making light of the incident after he was punished.
Arenas pleaded guilty, but avoided jail time and was sentenced to two years’ supervised probation, was involved in a dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton – who was also suspended for the rest of the season for the incident – over money in a poker game.
The U.S. government said at the time that Arenas brought at least one firearm into the Washington Wizards locker room.
Arenas would later return to the Wizards, while Crittenton was released by Washington after his suspension and played professional basketball for two more years before being charged with murder in August 2011. In April 2015, Crittenton pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a weapon and aggravated assault with a firearm and was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are not having a good time on the field. Their 112-103 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at LA’s Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday came two days after losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in the same building.
Years Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies to finish with 26 points, but it wasn’t enough as dominating Anthony Davis — who tallied 30 points and 22 rebounds — and 17 points each ahead of Dennis Schröder, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves led the rising Lakers to a seventh win in 10 games as they attempted to make the playoffs.
The Grizzlies’ total losing streak stands at three, having also lost the March 3 game in Denver – the most recent game Morant played. Memphis is third in the Western Conference with a 38-26 record.