Ja Morant was suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday after he gave the impression to be holding a gun in a social media video that was streamed reside on Instagram.

It is the second time in lower than three months that Morant was seen on Instagram holding what gave the impression to be a weapon. The primary led to an eight-game NBA suspension that was handed down in March and value Morant about $669,000 in wage.

It is unclear what sanctions Morant could also be dealing with for the second video, which was extensively shared on-line Sunday. An affiliate of Morant went reside on Instagram whereas the All-Star was within the entrance seat of a automobile with one other particular person, briefly showing to show a handgun. It’s unclear the place or when the newest video was filmed.

“We’re conscious of the social media publish involving Ja Morant and are within the technique of gathering extra data,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass mentioned.

The Grizzlies mentioned Morant is suspended from all workforce actions, “pending league overview.”

The gun video earlier this season occurred when Morant went reside on his personal Instagram holding a gun at a membership within the Denver suburbs in early March. After that went viral, Morant introduced that he was taking time away to hunt assist, with out specifying what kind of remedy he was getting. ESPN later reported that he was getting counseling in Florida, one thing the workforce ultimately confirmed however didn’t share some other particulars.

“Ja’s conduct was irresponsible, reckless and probably very harmful,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver mentioned in a press release in March after assembly with Morant and deciding on the suspension’s size. “It additionally has critical penalties given his huge following and affect, significantly amongst younger followers who look as much as him.”

Morant sat down for an interview with ESPN throughout his suspension, taking duty for the video.

“I do not condone any sort of violence,” Morant informed ESPN in March. “However I take full duty for my actions. I made a nasty mistake and I can see the picture that I painted over myself with my latest errors. However sooner or later, I’ll present everyone who Ja actually is, what I am about and alter this narrative.”

And when the season ended a pair weeks in the past, Morant mentioned once more that he wanted to work on his decision-making.

“Being disciplined on either side, off the court docket making higher choices and on the court docket being locked in much more,” Morant mentioned after a season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. “Being a pacesetter of this workforce, it just about begins with me. … I’ve obtained to be higher in that space.”

Morant’s five-year, $194 million max contract is ready to start this coming season. It might have escalated to a supermax if he made All-NBA this season; he was not voted onto that workforce, which price him about $39 million in future earnings.

His expertise on the court docket isn’t a query. He averaged 27.4 factors final season, 26.2 factors this season and helped Memphis safe the No. 2 seed within the Western Convention playoffs.

However the Grizzlies’ season ended amid dysfunction. They had been ousted in Spherical 1 by the Lakers, getting eradicated in a 40-point loss to shut a collection the place trash-talking and antics turned as a lot of a storyline as precise enjoying of basketball.

And the offseason is now off to a less-than-ideal begin as effectively, particularly after Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins mentioned following the playoffs that the workforce has to remove “pointless drama, self-inflicted choices that take away from the workforce.”

“It needs to be fully completely different going into subsequent 12 months,” Jenkins mentioned.

This will probably be at the very least the third identified NBA investigation surrounding Morant and the doable involvement of firearms to this point in 2023.

Morant’s actions had been investigated after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he mentioned led to a buddy of his being banned from residence video games for a 12 months.

That incident adopted a recreation in opposition to the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA At present reported that a number of members of the Pacers noticed a pink dot pointed at them, and The Athletic reported {that a} Pacers safety guard believed the laser was connected to a gun.

The NBA confirmed that unnamed people had been banned from the world however mentioned its investigation discovered no proof that anybody was threatened with a weapon.

Then got here the Denver-area incident within the early hours of March 4, after the Grizzlies performed a street recreation in opposition to the Nuggets. At 5:19 a.m., Morant began a livestream from inside a strip membership referred to as Shotgun Willies in Glendale, Colorado. No costs had been filed and police mentioned there have been no criticism calls stemming from Morant holding the gun had been made.

Morant and an in depth buddy are also concerned in a civil lawsuit introduced after an incident at Morant’s residence final summer time, wherein a then-17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12, accusing the teenager of slander, battery and assault.