Ja Morant continues to make headlines off the floor.
The Shelby County (Tenn.) Sheriff’s department conducted a welfare check Wednesday after the Memphis Grizzlies star posted cryptic messages on social media, according to TMZ.
Morant posted a series of photos with the captions: “Love ya ma” with a blue heart emoji, “Love ya pops” with a blue heart emoji and “You da greatest baby girl” — blue heart emoji — “love ya.” finished off with a simple, “Bye.”
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told the gossip website that Morant was fine and said the NBA star told them he is just taking a break from social media.
Morant is back in the headlines less than two weeks after he was suspended by the Grizzlies from all team activities after a second video of him holding a gun surfaced on social media. The video was from his friend Davonte Pack’s Instagram live account and has since been deleted.
“We are aware of the social media video involving Ja Morant,” the Grizzlies said in a statement on May 14. “He is suspended from all team activities pending League review. We have no further comment at this time.”
The two-time All-Star released a statement after the May video had gone viral.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant said. “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 was not the first incident the guard has with a gun on social media.
Morant was initially suspended for eight games by the NBA in March after a video showed him holding a gun while at a Denver-area strip club when the Grizzlies were in town to play the Nuggets. He entered into a brief counseling program after the first gun-related ban.
He then met with Adam Silver to discuss the situation and the NBA commissioner said he was under the impression that it would not happen again.
“Honestly, I was shocked when I saw this weekend that video,” Silver said on May 16. “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.”
The disturbing incidents off the floor continue to pile up for Morant. The 23-year-old is being sued by a high school basketball player for allegedly punching him in the head during a pick-up game at the home of the NBA star. The teen also claimed that Morant went into the house and came back with a gun.
The guard out of Murray State averaged 26.2 points, 8.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds this season. He made his second career All-Star appearance after being selected No. 2 overall in the 2019 NBA draft. Morant inked a five-year, $194 million contract extension with Memphis that is set to kick in next season.
