Ja Morant is sidelined with a hip injury that requires the use of crutches to move. While on the Memphis Grizzlies bench, cheering on his teammates against the LA Lakers, fans noticed an all too familiar hand gesture from him. Morant was seen waving his hand as if toting a gun at Anthony Davis. He was celebrating a Santi Aldama 3-pointer from the corner.
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Ja pointing a gun on the bench pic.twitter.com/KKWglsxe2C
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) November 14, 2024
Fans didn’t appreciate it, largely due to Ja’s history with firearms, and the subsequent suspension he served for it. They took to social media to express their distaste.
@NBA suspend him
— RUI FANATIC (@therealselena23) November 14, 2024
— Mr. Ice Cream Man (@icecreammanhq) November 14, 2024
@NBA @NBAOfficial get on top of this asap
— (@Fergycooked) November 14, 2024
In 2023, Ja was seen brandishing a firearm on an Instagram live video. He was subsequently handed a 25 game suspension at the start of the 2023-24 season.
Seeing a young player as talented as Ja behave oddly is something bothersome. However, fans calling for the NBA to suspend him for this celebration is taking things a tad too far.
The argument in favor of Morant is that many other NBA players have used the same ‘gun-like’ hand gesture for celebrating baskets and victories. For instance, Mikal Bridges’ iconic three-finger celebration is pretty close to what fans are shaming Ja for doing now. There was never any pushback against Bridges.
Clearly, Ja’s history with firearms led to the harsh criticism. However, the point guard had regretted that incident. Once, while speaking to Jalen Rose about the infamous IG video, he had let the public know his actions does not reflect or represent who he truly was.
“The gun wasn’t mine. It’s not who I am. I don’t condone any type of violence but I take full responsibility for my actions. I made a bad mistake,” he had said.
It’s highly unlikely any action would be taken against Ja for the incident. Nor will there be any reaction from the Grizzlies All-Star. This will likely be something that would be discussed online and soon forgotten when Ja returns to the court.
