Nba, Morant suspended by Memphis for two games

Morant has gone too far this time. And the NBA puts a stop to it, to be considered an “official” recall. The Memphis Grizzlies – but the League’s input seems implicit – in fact suspend their controversial star for at least two games. Sunday’s against the Los Angeles Clippers and Tuesday’s against the Los Angeles Lakers. What did he do this time? On Instagram he did a live from a club – with rap music in the background – showing a gun in his left hand. Too. The measure proved to be full for the patience of the NBA world. Because Morant is a recidivist, he’s done a lot of nasty things. Obviously too many for the image of a league that cares about form at least as much as substance.

Damned talent

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The 23-year-old guard, a two-time All Star, released the video at dawn after the Grizzlies’ loss to Jokic’s Nuggets in Denver on Friday night. He was shirtless and armed, in fact. On social media, that content quickly went viral: the Grizzlies and the NBA couldn’t ignore it. The NBA immediately communicated: “”We are aware of what happened, we are investigating”. He did it quickly… The sanction is nominally imposed by whoever pays his salary, the Grizzlies, who expressed themselves as follows: “Morant will be away from the team for at least the next two games”. He suspended, in fact, to speak clearly.

Previous

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A few days ago the Washington Post detailed two thorny situations involving him. Dating back to last summer, with complaints in theory presented by the alleged victims of his alleged harassment, but then without a known follow-up, at least so far. So after an argument over a basketball game a 17-year-old had claimed he had been beaten and that Morant would then appear threatening with his hand on a gun kept unattended on his side. A few days later Morant had clashed with a mall guard in a parking lot. The altercation/accident was never detailed. There is more. Last January 29, the Indiana Pacers after the defeat in Tennessee had complained of a very serious episode. Members of the team bus near the Arena would have seen a red laser aimed at them by a vehicle in which Morant was also present. The match had had an unpleasant and unexpected appendage, with Morant’s father and above all a friend of Morant’s having had a verbal altercation with some visiting players, even setting foot on the pitch. Davonte Pack, Morant’s historic friend, had been kicked out of the arena and then banned from FedExForum for his inappropriate behavior, but no one had been able to prove that that red laser in the postgame had been aimed by a weapon at the team in away.

The prospects

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Evidence or not, Morant’s image has taken significant blows over the past 12 months. In short, the athletic and technical talent is sensational and the sponsors and the league would be ready to promote him by any means, but the unknowns of the character are so insidious that they cast a long shadow over all his sporting achievements. Morant is averaging 27.2 points per game, dishing up 8.2 assists, pulling down 6 rebounds per game and is considered a top 15 NBA talent today. It is no coincidence that Memphis is second strength to the West, driven by his prowess. But off the field the boy from Murray State University seems out of control as in some of his instinctive basket penetrations. This time the latest madness has not been forgiven. He stopped at least 2 laps, as if he had drawn an unpleasant Monopoly unexpected card. The sanction looks like a warning from the league, which requires him to change register. Forewarned is forearmed…ball to him now.