NBA
Police claim Ja Morant is ‘fine’ after conducting a welfare check due to confusing social media posts
Tennessee Police felt the need to conduct a welfare check on Grizzlies star Ja Morant after he posted some cryptic social media posts on his personal Instagram account on Wednesday. The point guard has been surrounded by controversy once again as he appeared in a video last week holding a gun for a second time in the last two months.
The player has been quiet on social media until yesterday, saying “Love ya ma [blue heart emoji],” “Love ya pops [blue heart emoji]” and “You da greatest baby girl [blue heart emoji] love ya.” Morant then followed those posts with one last one that simply said, “Bye.”
The point guard then deleted the photos and messages, creating a lot of doubt over his well-being.
That same morning, the Public Information Officer for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office told the press that officers went to Morant’s home to check on him and “he is fine.”
“He advised us that he is taking a break from social media,” police spokesman John Morris said afterwards.
The 23-year-old was recently suspended from all activities with the Grizzlies following a Instagram Live session on the account of Morant’s friend Davonte Pack with him holding a gun while rapping along to a song on May 13.
The player is once again in the eye of the storm, as two months ago he was suspended by the NBA for essentially the same thing. Back then, Morant entered a counseling program in March and promised to end these toxic attitudes.
After suffering eight-long games punished on the sidelines, NBA commissioner Adam Silver called Morant’s conducts “irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous.”
Morant’s off-court antics could cost him his career or at least a long-list of contracts
Days after his second incident with a gun on social media, the Memphis star finally addressed the press with his head down.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant expressed in a statement. “This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself.”
This time around, Silver was almost speechless after the Grizzlies athlete’s latest mistake.“We’re in the process of investigating it and we’ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video’s a bit grainy and all that, but I’m assuming the worst. We’ll figure out exactly what happened there,” he said.
This isn’t the only off-court incident that Morant has been involved in over the past year, as he’s also being sued by a high school basketball player who guarantees that the NBA star picked up a fight with him in the star’s backyard court.
Up to this point, Morant lost $39 million in future earning as he wasn’t voted on the All-NBA this season, and his endorsement deals with Nike and Powerade are on unsteady ground as the sponsors are yet to announce their decisions about their status with the player.