The NBA has opened an investigation into a social media post by Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and a live video of him appearing with a firearm in a nightclub early Saturday morning.
The video on Morant’s Instagram page was not archived. The Grizzlies played Denver on Friday and were scheduled to travel to Los Angeles on Saturday for games against the Clippers on Sunday and the Lakers on Tuesday.
“We are aware of Ja Morant’s social media posts and are investigating,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.
The Grizzlies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. League could suspend or fine Morant.
Memphis ranks second in the Western Conference and the star averages 27.1 points and 8.2 assists per game.
This is the second time in as many weeks that Morant has been investigated by the league. Morant’s actions were investigated by the league following an incident on Jan. 29 in Memphis, when one of his friends was banned from home games for a year.
The incident occurred during the game against the Indiana Pacers; citing anonymous sources The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that several members of the Pacers claimed a red laser was being pointed at them.
The NBA confirmed that an unidentified individual was banned from the arena.
Morant responded to the incident with a message on Twitter assuring that the reports “give a negative image of him and my family and my brother was banned from home games for a year, unbelievable.”
There is precedent in the NBA penalizing a player for conduct involving weapons. In January 2010, then-commissioner David Stern suspended Washington’s Gilbert Arenas indefinitely without pay for behavior “unfit at this time to be on the court.”
The suspension came after Arenas was photographed before a game in Philadelphia pointing his fingers imitating a firearm at a teammate as he was being investigated by local and federal authorities after admitting to bringing a gun into the Wizards locker room.
Arenas missed 50 games, the rest of the 2009-10 campaign.
Morant, the second pick in the 2019 Draft, has become a star. His $194 million, five-year contract extension with the Grizzlies starts next season and could reach $230 million if he makes the All-NBA team this year.