Chandler Parsons, a former NBA guard who made the All-Rookie Team in 2012, called for severe punishment for Ja Morant after he was seen flashing a gun on an Instagram Live video Saturday.
The Memphis Grizzlies suspended Morant from all team activities as the NBA investigates the situation. Morant hasn’t commented on the latest incident.
Parsons, who played for the Grizzlies from 2016 to 2019, called for the NBA to suspend Morant for the entire 2023-2024 season. Morant was already suspended eight games after his first gun incident back in March.
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Atlanta Hawks forward Chandler Parsons talks with reporters during the team’s media day on September 30, 2019, at Emory Sports Medicine Complex in Atlanta. (Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“[S]uspend him all of next season,” Parsons wrote on a Bleacher Report Instagram post.
The video in question showed Morant in the passenger seat dancing to some music with some friends. He then appeared to pull the gun out to show off for the camera, and that’s when the friend holding the phone pulled it away from the Grizzlies point guard and faced it toward his shoulder.
A photo appearing to show Morant with the weapon went viral around social media.
On Sunday morning, the Grizzlies announced the Morant suspension.
“We are aware of the social media post involving Ja Morant and are in the process of gathering more information,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass told The Athletic.
Morant has been in the spotlight over the course of the season over several reports that accused him of wrongdoing. He was never charged in any of the incidents, but it all came to a boiling point earlier this year when he was seen holding a gun in a Denver nightclub.
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He was suspended eight games in March and checked himself into a clinic for stress management.
After the Grizzlies were eliminated from the playoffs, Morant acknowledged the off-court incidents may have led to a distracted team.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
“I’ve just got to be better with my decision-making,” Morant said via ESPN last month. “That’s pretty much it. Off-the-court issues affected us as an organization pretty much. Just [need] more discipline.”
It was one of a few issues that came to light.
The Indiana Pacers said that after an altercation between associates of Morant and the Pacers in January, a red laser was pointed at the team from an SUV that was carrying Morant, which the Pacers believed was a gun. The NBA investigated the incident and found that no “individual threatened others with a weapon.”
In March, a police report said Morant exposed a gun after punching a teenager last summer.
In a report by the Washington Post, Morant allegedly punched the teenager in the head “12 to 13 times” in a pickup basketball game at Morant’s house. According to the report, Morant went into his house after the altercation and emerged with a gun in his waist and his hand on the weapon.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) and forward Xavier Tillman are shown during Game 5 of the first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 26, 2023. (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)
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“I feel like mine is more off the court and on the court – just being disciplined both sides,” Morant said last month. “Off the court, making better decisions. On the court, being locked in even more. Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. So, however I attack any situation, I know my guys will follow. I’ve just got to be better in that area.”
Fox News’ Joe Morgan contributed to this report.
