Adams Silver On Ja Morant Suspension: “should it matter whether or not it’s a real gun?”

Adam Silver is fully aware of the speculation around Ja Morant’s alleged use of a toy pistol during his second Instagram Live controversy, but the NBA commissioner suggests it may not ultimately matter when deciding the player’s imminent penalty.

Adams Silver On Ja Morant Suspension: “should it matter whether or not it’s a real gun?”

The assertion gained popularity after Claudia Jordan revealed last week on “The Breakfast Club” that she had learned from Ja’s camp that the weapon seen in the video was a fake.

Commissioner Adam Silver announced to the globe that the league’s investigation into Ja Morant’s most recent gun incident had discovered fresh facts and come to a decision before the 2023 NBA Finals began. Because he didn’t want to detract from the action on the court between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat, Silver simply wasn’t going to reveal the penalty Morant would get until after the Finals.

Silver spoke at length about Ja’s situation in an interview on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Thursday and he said the crux of the issue is how the Memphis Grizzlies star’s actions disregarded the importance of gun safety.

“It’s interesting,” Silver said Thursday, adding that he is aware of reports of Morant’s camp claiming he didn’t have a real gun in the second video.

“It’s something that I’m thinking a lot about because, again, I’m not going to get into specifics about the investigation — but in fact, if you’re live streaming something to the world that looks exactly like a gun and in a frankly reckless manner, should it matter whether or not it’s a real gun?

“The very issue for Ja, certainly in the first incident, was treating a gun as a toy. That’s what we’re talking about and that’s what I think the danger is to society.

“Taking a gun, live streaming it, without getting into gun issues in terms of the propriety of owning guns and the use of guns, I think everyone agrees that gun safety is critically important and that guns aren’t toys.”

Soon after the video went public, Ja was immediately suspended indefinitely from all Memphis Grizzlies activities; he subsequently expressed regret for his conduct but did not clarify whether the pistol was genuine.

Following the NBA Finals, the league will disclose Ja’s sentence, and Silver is hoping that his time away from the game will help the budding star get back on track.

The NBA has taken a very firm stance against its players carrying weapons. The most shocking occurrence was in 2009 when Gilbert Arenas, a player for the Washington Wizards, carried firearms into the team’s locker room following an altercation with a colleague. Arenas was given a season-long suspension by the NBA after an investigation into the event. He was also given a $50,000 fine and ordered to do anger control training.

What works in Morant’s favor when you consider the duration of his upcoming ban is this. Because the season is done, he wasn’t traveling with the team, wasn’t on NBA business, and was in a private vehicle, I’m not even convinced he broke any NBA regulations. You should check section 6.9 of NBA player code of conduct to have more clarity!

 

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