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Sports fans have been waiting to see Ja Morant’s punishment for flashing a gun on Instagram for the second time, and they’ve finally got an update.
He’s still removed from all team activities by the Memphis Grizzles, but Commissioner Adam Silver made it clear during the pre-NBA Finals news conference that a heavier suspension is en route.
It didn’t sound too promising as Silver said that more evidence regarding his off-court actions has been unearthed, but the league won’t announce it until the Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat have concluded.
“In terms of the timing, we’ve uncovered a fair amount of additional information since I was asked about the situation. We probably could have brought it to a head now, but we made the decision — and I believe the players association agrees with us — that it would be unfair to these players and these teams in the middle of this series to announce the results of that investigation,” Silver said.
Yikes. The fact that Silver’s waiting until the season’s over to not overshadow the current teams likely means Morant’s punishment is heavy-handed.
Morant’s first suspension was just eight games, and Silver thought he got the point across until, like most fans, he was surprised to see Morant flashing a gun on Instgram live again, just weeks after the first incident.
“Honestly, I was shocked when I saw this weekend — that video. Now, we’re in the process of investigating it,” he said before revealing what their conversation was like after the first incident. “Frankly most of our conversation was about how incredibly serious the first incident was of waving a firearm on social media. The consequences there — an eight-game suspension was pretty serious. And something that he, at least to me, seemed to take incredibly seriously in that time.”
Twitter got word that Silver’s punishment will be announced after the Finals. See the reactions below.
