Ja Morant’s return to court may be farther than expected.
Brian Windhorst, ESPN’s senior NBA writer, appeared on Friday’s show “First Take” and said he was spotted with a firearm on social media twice in two months. In response, he explained why he believes the Grizzlies’ star is considering a “significant suspension.” .
Windhorst was responding to Thursday’s statement from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who said the league “revealed a significant amount of additional information” in its investigation into the second gun incident involving Morant. He added that he would refrain from announcing the results until after the match. NBA Finals.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Windhorst said. “It was very rare.
“He basically said, ‘I know what I’m going to do, but I’m not going to announce it right now.'” It’s working on this issue. He clearly has them next door. Believe me, players associations usually don’t exist when discipline is defined and implemented.
“So this is a widespread situation and, frankly, the signs here are that this is going to be a major outage.”
Windhorst went on to speculate that Silver’s result and Players Association decision could be unprecedented in the NBA.
“Given the tone and demeanor and the fact that the players union is involved, I doubt this will be anything like what we’ve seen before,” he said.
“And I think Adam Silver expects a lot of reactions to his actions as well. Take all of this as advice when considering what might happen.”
Silver spoke to reporters before Thursday’s Game 1 victory over the Heat in Denver, 104-93, and said he’d taken umpire Eric Lewis to a separate investigation linked to his Varner account on Twitter. Mentioned many topical topics.
“We have revealed a significant amount of additional information,” Silver told Morant reporters.
“We could have settled it now, but we decided it would be unfair to the players and teams to announce that decision midway through this series.”
Silver’s statement said the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee sent police to his home for a welfare check after Morant, 23, shared a related message on his Instagram story that was later deleted. announced a week later.
spokesperson said TMZSports “I’m fine,” Morant said after the post, which included family photos and the message “Goodbye.”
Morant reportedly told police the message was a reference to his social media hiatus.
Morant is currently serving an indefinite suspension from Grizzlies team activity after allegedly firing a gun in his car in an Instagram Live video on May 13.
It was the second time in less than three months that Morant had brandished a weapon on social media.
After the Grizzlies’ loss to the Nuggets in Denver, he was seen holding his gun in another Instagram Live at the Shotgun Willies Strip Club in Glendale, Colorado, on March 4.
Morant previously issued an eight-game suspension without pay and has publicly apologized.
He also attended a brief counseling program in Florida before returning to the Grizzlies.
Meanwhile, on Thursday’s “First Take” following ESPN’s morning show “Get Up,” Kendrick Perkins offered his opinion on the situation.
“For his own well-being, it might be best for him to leave Memphis and go to another organization.” Mr Perkins said of Morant.
Morant signed a five-year maximum rookie extension worth up to $231 million with the Grizzlies in 2022.
