After a run of off-the-court issues, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been a given a timetable for a return to action.
Morant has been suspended eight games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league, the NBA announced Wednesday afternoon. He will be eligible to return to play on March 20, when Memphis takes on the Mavericks.
According to the league's statement, Morant and NBA commissioner Adam Silver met in New York Wednesday.
“Ja’s conduct was irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous,” Silver said in the statement. “Ja has also made it clear to me that he has learned from his incident and that he understands his obligations and responsibility to the Memphis Grizzlies and the broader NBA community extend well beyond his play on the court.”
Morant "has left a counseling program in Florida and moves closer to ramping up for return to season now," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted Wednesday afternoon, noting before the suspension was handed down that his return is contingent on the findings of a league investigation.
On Monday, Wojnarowski and fellow ESPN reporter Tim McMahon reported that Morant had entered the program in order to “to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”
According to Wojnarowski, Morant did not play basketball while at the counseling center, and is not expected to be ready to return for the game against the Mavericks, but could be available “shortly thereafter.”
Morant has been away from the team since the events of March 3, when he scored 27 points in a 113–97 Grizzlies loss to the Nuggets and filmed himself hours later appearing to hold a gun in a Denver-area nightclub.
On the court, Morant has averaged 27.1 points per game in 53 games this season.
