NBA: Morant to miss 4 more games but faces no police charges

MIAMI – The Memphis Grizzlies said on Wednesday that Ja Morant will miss at least four more games, as police confirmed the National Basketball Association star will not face charges after posting a video of himself waving a gun.

The guard has not appeared in his team’s last two games and faces an NBA investigation over the incident.

The two-time NBA All-Star posted a livestream last Saturday morning waving a handgun in a club.

In response to the video, the Grizzlies said Morant “will be away from the team for at least the next two games”.

They issued another statement on Wednesday, saying he would “continue to be away from the team for at least the next four games”.

Morant has apologised and said he was going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and his overall well-being.

He deleted both his Instagram and Twitter accounts on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said there was no timetable for Morant’s return and said that would be “disrespectful”.

“It’s support and accountability,” he added. “We’re in touch with him every single day.

“It’s staff, it’s teammates. He’s still a huge part of what we do.

“As I said the other day, we love him, we want what’s best for him, we support him. I’m not going to ever share what our conversations are.”

Police in Glendale, Colorado, said that their investigation had found that the incident happened at Shotgun Willie’s, a strip club.

The police said in a statement that they did not receive any calls regarding the incident when it occurred.

“Subsequently, no disturbances were reported, and no citizens or patrons of the club came forward to make a complaint,” read the statement.

“The investigation also concluded that no one was threatened or menaced by the firearm and in fact no firearm was ever located.

“Although the video was concerning enough to prompt an investigation, there was not enough available evidence to charge anyone with a crime.

“Under our justice system, all persons are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.”

The incident was the latest in a series involving Morant, who has been accused of punching a 17-year-old “12-13 times” while playing basketball at his house in July 2022.

Morant’s agent denied the claim and said the player had been acting in self-defence.

Days before that incident, the head of security at a Memphis mall told police he felt “threatened” by Morant and a group of his associates after an incident in the shopping centre’s carpark.

Morant was in the headlines again in early February, when the NBA investigated allegations by the Indiana Pacers that the player’s entourage “aggressively confronted” members of their travelling party, possibly pointing a red laser at them. AFP