Ja Morant will play basketball Tuesday night.
The Grizzlies point guard returns to action after serving a 25-game suspension that he received for flaunting a gun multiple times on social media over the past year.
Lakers superstar LeBron James issued a heartfelt message to Morant as the 24-year-old returns to face the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The Grizzlies (6–19) play the Pelicans (16–11) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
1️⃣2️⃣ welcome back!! Go be GREAT again!! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 19, 2023
Morant appeared destined to become one of the faces of the NBA before serving two suspensions over the same concern.
The league required Morant to fulfill a program that “directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior” during his latest suspension. NBA commissioner Adam Silver told reporters earlier this month that Morant “complied with everything he’s been asked to do.”
In 61 games last season, Morant averaged 26.2 points and 8.1 assists in 31.9 minutes per game. He was suspended for eight contests in March but returned to close out the regular season. Morant and the Grizzlies fell in the first round of the 2023 playoffs in six games to the Lakers.
Morant and James are poised to take the floor together again Jan. 5 when Memphis visits the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
