The NBA will not fine or suspend Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant for the finger gun gesture he made toward the Golden State Warriors‘ bench during a loss on Tuesday night, per ESPN. The league investigated the incident and ultimately decided to issue warnings to Morant, Warriors guard Buddy Hield and both teams. The league ruled “the celebrations were not intended to be violent in nature, but inappropriate,” according ESPN’s report.
Morant has been suspended multiple times in the past for incidents involving actual guns. In 2023, he was suspended eight games after flashing a gun on Instagram at a Colorado nightclub. Then, in May of the same year, he was suspended 25 more games after again showing off a gun while in a car during another Instagram video.
Here’s a look at Morant’s gesture from Tuesday:
Morant was also investigated for an incident that took place after a Jan. 29, 2023 game against the Indiana Pacers in which a person in Morant’s SUV allegedly shined a red laser pointer at a Pacers team bus following a confrontation between some of Morant’s acquaintances and members of Indiana’s traveling party. The NBA ultimately could not determine that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
The league decided against disciplining Morant. However, when issuing discipline, the NBA does consider a player’s past. When suspending players involved in Sunday’s fight between the Timberwolves and Pistons, for example, Isaiah Stewart was banned for two games in part because of “his repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.” This precedent also informed the indefinite suspension Warriors star Draymond Green earned last season after his flagrant foul on Jusuf Nurkić.
Those incidents included physical, on-court confrontations, though. This investigation centered on a gesture.
Tuesday’s loss dropped the Grizzlies to sixth in the Western Conference. And this Memphis team is trying to find its footing after the surprising firing of head coach Taylor Jenkins last week.
