The NBA announced its punishment for Grizzlies star Ja Morant on Wednesday, suspending the rising star for eight games after he brandished a firearm in a nightclub hours after Memphis’s March 3 loss to the Nuggets and posted it on social media. The suspension is retroactive to March 5, by when the Grizzlies had already sent Morant away from the team, meaning he is eligible to return on March 20.
Morant met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Wednesday, and in its statement, the league did not conclude Morant traveled with the gun or handled it at a team facility, which would have been a violation of the CBA and potentially led to a harsher penalty. Morant reportedly sought counseling in Florida during his time away from the Grizz, and Silver said in a statement he expressed remorse for his actions. In these situations, it’s seemingly become natural to wonder: Is this punishment strong enough?
That probably misses the point. On one level, yes, Morant should be an example for up-and-coming players and how they comport themselves in the league. As a burgeoning face of the NBA, Morant’s actions were creating danger for himself, and in a country where gun violence is a serious issue, the optics of his Instagram Live were poor to say the absolute least. Maybe that does warrant a more precedent-setting suspension.
