As expected, we finally got news of Ja Morant’s suspension following the latest incident of him brandishing a gun on social media.
The NBA suspended Morant for 25 games for what they called “conduct detrimental to the league” in a statement. This is the 2nd time Morant has been suspended for an incident related to a gun. He did the same thing just a couple of months before his latest incident in May, which seemed to play a part in the suspension.
Regardless, though, the National Basketball Player’s Association still isn’t here for Morant’s punishment. Tamika Tremaglio, the director of the NBPA, issued a statement saying the player’s association will be challenging the NBA’s ruling on Morant here.
NBPA Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio's statement on the suspension of Ja Morant.https://t.co/Qg6CT1A90a pic.twitter.com/JBpvGy0m7A
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) June 16, 2023
“As to the discipline imposed, which keeps him off the corut until December and requires some unstated conditions to be met before he can return, we believe it is excessive and inappropriate for a number of reasons including the facts involved in this particular incident, and that it is not fair and consistent with past discipline in our league. We will explore with Ja all options and next steps.”
This isn’t necessarily unexpected because this suspension would make Morant ineligible for postseason awards. That, in turn, brings a financial implication to the table that the player’s association has to fight against.
We’ll see how it goes. But things certainly seem like we’re still a ways away from a final conclusion here.