NBA commissioner Adam Silver is disappointed in Ja Morant, whether or not the gun he was waving in a viral Instagram story was real or fake.
The NBA affirmed that Morant's suspension will not be announced until the conclusion of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets. However, reports have surfaced claiming that the alleged gun in Morant's recent Instagram Live broadcast was a toy gun - not a real firearm.
Silver spoke in detail about Morant's situation in an interview on " The Dan Patrick Show " on Thursday. Whether the firearm was real or fake, the NBA commissioner doubled down that the essence of the matter is how the Memphis Grizzlies superstar point guard's actions disobeyed the importance of gun safety as a role model.
“I’m aware, of course, of these reports on social media about whether the gun was, in fact a gun,” Silver told the Dan Patrick Show.
"Taking a gun, live streaming it without getting into gun issues in terms of the propriety of owning guns and the use of guns, I think everyone agrees that gun safety is critically important and that guns aren't toys."
He added: "It's something that I'm thinking a lot about because, again, I'm not going to get into specifics about the investigation, but in fact, if you're live streaming something to the world that looks exactly like a gun and in a frankly reckless manner, should it matter whether or not it's a real gun?"
Silver wouldn't go into details regarding the length of any potential second suspension for Morant. However, he did claim that he wants to see the young All-NBA standout get the necessary help to prevent any issues from happening in the future.
“It’s important to point out that this is not about just discipline, and then we’ll just cross our fingers and then hope there’s not a third time,” Silver said.
“I recognize that he needs some assistance you know, from the league office, his union, his team. No doubt he’s a remarkable player, and I think he’s a very engaging young man. It’s one of the reasons he has this enormous following on social media, but it’s a two-edged sword, and he has to own that and take responsibility for it. "
"My hope is that wherever we come out in terms of discipline, that there’s an acceptance that we need to find ways to engage with each other going forward so he can change the trajectory he’s now on, which is not a positive one.”
