Ja Morant.Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty
“I take full responsibility for my actions last night,” Morant said in the statement. “I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down.”
“I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being,” he added.
Morant started an Instagram Live hours after the Grizzlies' 113-97 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday. In the video, he appeared to be partying in a club shirtless and at one point appeared to hold up a handgun with his left hand while smiling.
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The Memphis Grizzlies team also issued a statement saying that Morant would be “away from the team for at least the next two games.” This means that he willmiss Sunday’s game against the L.A. Clippersand Tuesday’s game against the Lakers.
In one incident, Morant allegedly “threatened” the head of security at a Memphis mall after an altercation in the parking lot prompting him to file a police report, according to the publication. In another incident, a teenage boy allegedly reported to police that Moranthad punched him during a pickup basketball gameat Morant’s house. According to the police report, Morant reportedly claimed that he had acted in “self-defense” because the boy threw the ball at his head.
“Any and every allegation involving a firearm has been fully investigated and could not be corroborated. This includes the NBA investigation [in January], in which they found no evidence,” Tanner toldthe Post.
NBA spokesperson Bass toldThe Athleticat the time: “While we substantiated that a postgame situation arose that was confrontational, based on interviews and other evidence gathered, we could not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon.”
source: people.com
