Ja Morant to miss four more games but faces no police charges
FILE–Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies (Photo by Mike Ehrmann / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
The Memphis Grizzlies said Wednesday Ja Morant will miss at least four more games as police confirmed the NBA star will not face charges after posting a video of himself waving a gun in a nightclub.
Morant has not appeared in his team’s last two games and faces an investigation from the NBA over the incident.
The two-time NBA All Star, one of the brightest talents in the league, posted a livestream during the early hours of Saturday morning in which he appeared to be waving a handgun in a club.
On Saturday, in response to the video, the Grizzlies said that Morant “will be away from the team for at least the next two games”.
On Wednesday they issued another statement saying he would “continue to be away from the team for at least the next four games”.
Morant has apologized and said he was “going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”
Morant later deleted both his Instagram and Twitter accounts on Saturday.
On Tuesday Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said there was no timetable for Morant’s return and said that would be “disrespectful”.
“It’s support and accountability,” Jenkins said.
“We’re in touch with him every single day. It’s staff, it’s teammates. He’s still a huge part of what we do. As I said the other day, we love him, we want what’s best for him, we support him. I’m not going to ever share what our conversations are,” he said.
Police in Glendale, Colorado, said that their investigation had found that the incident had taken place at Shotgun Willie’s, a strip club.
The police said in a statement that they did not receive any calls regarding the incident when it occurred.
“Subsequently, no disturbances were reported, and no citizens or patrons of the club came forward to make a complaint,” read the statement.
“The investigation also concluded that no one was threatened or menaced by the firearm and in fact no firearm was ever located.
“Although the video was concerning enough to prompt an investigation, there was not enough available evidence to change anyone with a crime. Under our justice system all persons are presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” the police concluded.
The incident was the latest in a series involving Morant who has been accused of punching a 17-year-old “12-13 times” during an incident at his house in July 2022. Morant’s agent denied the claim and said the player had been acting in self-defense.
Days before that incident, the head of security at a Memphis mall told police he felt “threatened” by Morant and a group of his associates after an incident in the shopping center’s parking lot.
Morant was in the headlines again in early February, when the NBA investigated allegations by the Indiana Pacers that the player’s entourage “aggressively confronted” members of their travelling party, possibly pointing a red laser at them.
