Ja Morant: A Time Line Of All His Controversies

May 14, 2023On Sunday, the Memphis Grizzlies suspended Ja Morant after a video of him flashing a gun on Instagram Live circulated online. The team released a statement on Twitter saying he is “suspended from all team activities pending League review.” This is the second time since March the 23-year-old has been suspended for showing a gun online.

March 4, 2023Morant went on Instagram Live and recorded himself waving a gun in a Colorado strip club. On March 12, the NBA suspended Morant for eight games without pay for “conduct detrimental to the league.” Morant didn’t face any charges related to the incident, though Colorado police said in a statement the video was “concerning.” Morant entered a counseling program and a few days later, he spoke with ESPN’s Jalen Rose, saying he doesn’t “condone any type of violence,” but takes “full responsibility for [his]

January 29, 2023The Athletic reported members of the Indiana Pacers alleged a red laser was pointed at them in their team bus from a car containing Morant and friends after a game between the Grizzlies and the Pacers. Witnesses alleged the laser came from a gun. During the game, at least one of Morant’s friends got into a verbal altercation with players. Morant’s friend Devonte Pack was seemingly removed from the game. NBA spokesman Mike Bass told the Washington Post, though they “substantiated that a post-game situation arose that was confrontational, based on interviews and other evidence gathered, [the NBA] could not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon.”

January 20, 2023During a game between the Los Angeles Lakers, Morant’s father, Tee Morant, got into a verbal altercation with NFL Hall of Famers and Fox Sports host Shannon Sharpe. Sharpe said after the incident that Grizzlies player Dillion Brooks and Ja Morant approached him. Next, Tee Morant “came and he obviously didn't want no problems, but [Sharpe] wanted anything they had.” Sharpe later apologized on his show.

September 22, 2022TMZ reported Morant, family and friends stormed into a high school volleyball game after a verbal altercation between his sister and another teenager. Officers tried blocking the group from entering the student section, but one of Morant’s friends pushed past. Some witnesses alleged the friend slapped a phone out of a teenager’s hand and threatened to “beat” them. Morant defended the incident, saying he “was checking on [his sister’s]

July 26, 2023Morant punched a 17-year-old boy in the head during a pickup basketball game at Morant’s house, leaving a “large knot” on the boy’s head, the Washington Post also reports. According to police interviews the Washington Post obtained, the boy told police Morant went inside the house and came back out with a weapon visible in his waistband and his hand on the weapon.

July 22, 2022Four days prior, according to an employee of a Memphis-area Foot Action store, Morant’s mother was displeased with her service, so she called her son. Morant and eight or nine friends arrived at the store and threatened the employee while he hid in the back room for nearly an hour. However, Morant was not listed as a suspect and his mother was listed as “Unknown” on a police report obtained by the Washington Post.

July 22, 2022The Washington Post reported the same day that Morant threatened the head of security at a Memphis-area mall during an altercation, causing the security guard to file a police report. The head of security alleged a member of Morant’s group shoved him in the head, but no arrests were made.

May 14, 2022After a Twitter user called him “p**** whipped,” Morant responded in a now-deleted tweet saying “It’s free to see how hollows feel,” allegedly referring to shooting the user with hollow-point bullets.