NBA suspends Ja Morant 25 games for waiving a gun on IG

[Ultra Max Power 214]

Quote

 

Memphis guard Ja Morant has been suspended for the first 25 games of the upcoming season for his second known incident of displaying what appeared to be a firearm on social media, the NBA announced Friday.

Morant will also have to adhere to certain conditions before being reinstated, the NBA said. It is the second time he has been suspended in the last three months for showing a firearm on social media, following an eight-game suspension in March.

Morant is due to make around $33.5 million this season. He now stands to lose just over $300,000 per game during this suspension — or approximately $7.5 million.

“Ja Morant’s decision to once again wield a firearm on social media is alarming and disconcerting given his similar conduct in March for which he was already suspended eight games,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “The potential for other young people to emulate Ja’s conduct is particularly concerning. Under these circumstances, we believe a suspension of 25 games is appropriate and makes clear that engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns will not be tolerated."

 

Too harsh IMO.  If Ja had some sense, he would fight this.  

[Herbivore 1,115]

surprised it wasnt more, like half the season

[Strike 5,204]

Too harsh?  Slap on the wrist.  What a joke.

[dogcows 1,030]

2 minutes ago, Strike said:

Too harsh?  Slap on the wrist.  What a joke.

You don’t support gun rights?

[iam90sbaby 2,490]

2 minutes ago, dogcows said:

You don’t support gun rights?

Guns and the hood don't mix 

[Ultra Max Power 214]

He was only making music videos. 

[Tree of Knowledge 1,705]

Too harsh.  Gilbert Arenas got away with a lot worse. 

[frank 2,276]

1 hour ago, Ultra Max Power said:

Too harsh IMO.  If Ja had some sense, he would fight this.  

If he had some sense, he wouldn’t risk millions of dollars to make stupid internet videos. 

[thegeneral 2,913]

They were talking like half season. The new guy isn’t a David Stern.

[Ultra Max Power 214]

14 minutes ago, frank said:

If he had some sense, he wouldn’t risk millions of dollars to make stupid internet videos. 

Nothing wrong with making stupid internet videos

[posty 2,612]

14 minutes ago, Ultra Max Power said:

Nothing wrong with making stupid internet videos

You are correct...  The people from the January 6 debacle was just making internet videos...

[Ultra Max Power 214]

1 minute ago, posty said:

You are correct...  The people from the January 6 debacle was just making internet videos...

That's about the dumbest false equivalency I've ever seen. 

[posty 2,612]

4 minutes ago, Ultra Max Power said:

That's about the dumbest false equivalency I've ever seen. 

 

Really?  Okay...

But if someone is waiving around a gun and threating to kill a public official or shoot up a school, they are just making "stupid internet videos"...

[Ultra Max Power 214]

3 minutes ago, posty said:

 

Really?  Okay...

But if someone is waiving around a gun and threating to kill a public official or shoot up a school, they are just making "stupid internet videos"...

Did Ja do that?

[posty 2,612]

6 minutes ago, Ultra Max Power said:

Did Ja do that?

No clue, I don't give a rat's ass what this idiot does...

But great work by the NBA...

[Ultra Max Power 214]

Just now, posty said:

No clue, I don't give a rat's ass what this idiot does...

Oh cool, so you're just in here to talk about J6. Thanks for your contribution. 

[dogcows 1,030]

In light of this, are they gonna suspend these people from Congress?

 

 

[frank 2,276]

1 hour ago, Ultra Max Power said:

Nothing wrong with making stupid internet videos

I agree. I’m not saying he did anything wrong, but unless he feels very strongly about this, he is giving up a lot to gain nothing. 

[zsasz 361]

Ja should have just said he was fearing for his life, standing his ground and exercising his 2nd Right Amendment.

[RaiderHaters Revenge 4,239]

Why would he be suspended for possessing a gun?  This is a clear violation of the 2a

[posty 2,612]

39 minutes ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

Why would he be suspended for possessing a gun?  This is a clear violation of the 2a

https://www.sportico.com/law/analysis/2023/ja-morant-gun-video-nba-police-investigation-1234711646/

NBA rules...  

Under Section 9, Article VI of the CBA, players are prohibited from possessing a firearm “of any kind” in numerous settings, including “whenever a player is traveling on any NBA-related business, whether on behalf of the player’s team, the NBA or any League-related entity.” Although Morant wasn’t partaking in a team-related activity while at Shotgun Willie’s, he was in Glendale as part of his team’s road trip and subject to team rules about personal conduct. 

[Ultra Max Power 214]

49 minutes ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

Why would he be suspended for possessing a gun?  This is a clear violation of the 2a

NBA is being racist here. 

[Blue Horseshoe 348]

2 hours ago, posty said:

 

Really?  Okay...

But if someone is waiving around a gun and threating to kill a public official or shoot up a school, they are just making "stupid internet videos"...

 

Ja Morant got off "light" in terms of what he could have gotten as a suspension if he was just about anyone else. Point to note, a suspension for an NBA player can come at two levels, either from the league administration itself, or the actual franchise in question, it's a big distinction that this is a league suspension. 

The NBA has to look at this from multiple directions

1) The bottom line will always be money. Ja Morant is a Nike Signature endorsed athlete. The NBA doesn't want to rock the boat too hard with Nike, as Nike also has a big relationship with the networks, which give the NBA those HUGE TV contracts. Also Morant has other sponsors. And the Grizzlies have their own sponsors. All want a RETURN ON INVESTMENT. Morant is a superstar player. An extended suspension removes the Grizzlies value to the networks for nationally broadcasted games. Also merchandising. Also for Nike's investment in Morant. Also for the Grizzlies own branding, advertising and TV pathway. 

Morant also has an international following, so to remove Morant for too long would incite NBA China and Tencent. 

If a suspension is too long, then the Grizzlies might miss the playoffs, which has massive implications financially for Memphis as a whole, then also for Tennessee. So now this becomes political. That means Bill Lee and Marsha Blackburn become involved in the shadows. 

2) The NBPA, most of it, has openly shown it's politics lean hard left. And is mostly shown as anti-law enforcement and heavily leftist. It just doesn't fit the woke narrative that was established in the Bubble in 2020. Also high profile coaches like Steve Kerr and Gregg Poppovich have spoken out against gun violence before.  Also the NBA does not want to enrage the Pro-2A crowd here too much. They don't want a Bud Light situation on their hands.

3) Morant is a black male. There are already consistent open negative connations in the public sphere about young black men with guns and what is seen as reckless behavior.  The flip side is to go after Morant too harshly opens up criticisms that a white player would be treated differently. ( Which would depend on the "white player" of course. If it was a marketing monster level player, who generated massive ratings and fan interest, then they would get it light. If it was basically the next Adam Keefe or Adam Morrison, then they would be hosed) 

4) The league has to do the suspensions to take the weight off of the franchise. If the Grizzlies are forced to do it, then it raises ugly questions about how badly they want to win, in a good way, then in a bad way. It's a lose / lose situation. So Adam Silver has to give Memphis some deniability here ( i.e. "We have to abide by the league decisions, it's not in our control, we love Morant, and if it was up to us, he'd be here, but we want him to be responsible with his choices" ) 

The way the current CBA is set up, it's pretty much impossible to be an NBA player, have a gun, and not be in within the league's crosshairs

A) Any "team or league activity" or any "league facility" or any "league property" removes Morant's general 2A protections. Point to note, the NBA also mandates a distance zone around their related facilities. If some accounting office who does some small part time work for a larger firm who does something for the WNBA, then surrounding that by X amount of distance is a No Go Zone. Even if Morant or someone else was on their own time. If Morant is within the framework of a team activity or league activity, he's bound by the CBA. If Morant is on his own time, in his own home, but he uses a league device like an IPad or smart phone, he's still in the jackpot. This isn't much different that what Kathy Hochul did in NY ( i.e. upped the restrictions to the point where there is no place that's legal to have a gun, according to her clearly illegal bills)  This is why most professional athletes don't use league supported car services or security services. You call for a car service, paid for by the league, to get you home from the club, then you are now entering into a vehicle that is now bound by the CBA. 

B) Is this a fair suspension? Silver didn't negotiate with Morant or the NBPA on this, he negotiated with Nike and the networks. How much Morant could they lose that would be less of a profit loss than the bad PR if they did nothing at all? That was the key question. 

Also the suspension had to be something that the NBPA didn't have to fight. If it was too long, they'd be obligated to fight it on principle as they have to protect players even if they don't agree personally. You can't have LeBron James getting caught on social media shouting "You're Next!" to a cop accused of violence against a minority, then get into this endless back and forth about 2A rights and whether the CBA's role in enforcement on firearms is valid or not. That drags in a more complex overall labor issue. ( i.e. we are going to legalize players using weed but we are going to punish them for guns?) 

This was a lose / lose situation for Adam Silver. He actually is a very good commissioner overall. It's not his fault that most of the players under his watch are basically a bunch of d!pshits. 

This ruling was a compromise. I don't think "fair" or "not fair" is the best way to assess it. This balances out total profit against bad PR against preventing a sticking point in a future labor war against appeasing Nike and the networks against protecting Memphis as a franchise overall. 

If Ja Morant was Jonathan Issac instead, he'd be totally hosed. It would be a full season suspension. 

posty, you're a trash poster. But it's your free speech. I took your low value trolling and made it into something better. Have you really engaged like this, with piss poor gaslighting for 23 years here? Well, it's your choice. You do you. I pity you though. 

[Ultra Max Power 214]

17 minutes ago, Blue Horseshoe said:

 

The way the current CBA is set up, it's pretty much impossible to be an NBA player, have a gun, and not be in within the league's crosshairs

A) Any "team or league activity" or any "league facility" or any "league property" removes Morant's general 2A protections. Point to note, the NBA also mandates a distance zone around their related facilities. If some accounting office who does some small part time work for a larger firm who does something for the WNBA, then surrounding that by X amount of distance is a No Go Zone. Even if Morant or someone else was on their own time. If Morant is within the framework of a team activity or league activity, he's bound by the CBA. If Morant is on his own time, in his own home, but he uses a league device like an IPad or smart phone, he's still in the jackpot. This isn't much different that what Kathy Hochul did in NY ( i.e. upped the restrictions to the point where there is no place that's legal to have a gun, according to her clearly illegal bills)  This is why most professional athletes don't use league supported car services or security services. You call for a car service, paid for by the league, to get you home from the club, then you are now entering into a vehicle that is now bound by the CBA. 

That was a good post with a lot of thought as to why 25 games. Part of my problem with the suspension in general was that Ja's activity doesn't appear to fall into any of the categories outlined above.

His May 13th incident was in Memphis, in a friend's car, on a friend's phone and Instagram account. They were leaving a social gathering and not a league activity. 

So what league rule did he violate here? 

[weepaws 3,157]

He needs to dummy up, when one is famous, beware of what you’re doing, and who might be watching. I would give him 25 games for forgetting that.  

[Blue Horseshoe 348]

36 minutes ago, Ultra Max Power said:

That was a good post with a lot of thought as to why 25 games. Part of my problem with the suspension in general was that Ja's activity doesn't appear to fall into any of the categories outlined above.

His May 13th incident was in Memphis, in a friend's car, on a friend's phone and Instagram account. They were leaving a social gathering and not a league activity. 

So what league rule did he violate here? 

 

It's a good question.

The Grizzlies played the Nuggets, and this first incident happened post game when Morant was still within the bound of the "road trip" 

When you enter the team facility ( literally as you cross over into the team's property line, even in the outer parking lot ) to prepare to depart for a team "road trip", you are bound by the CBA until you return "home" and exit team premises. A road trip should be seen as a large "block of time" instead of smaller segments of property lines and league facilities and league functions. 

In Colorado, Morant could not legally be charged with a crime based on the conditions you've stated. 

So Morant received what is informally known as  a "soft suspension" He was sent away from the team, without pay, for a while, because the PR would be devastating to the league and Memphis if they did nothing. Then the suspension included "games already missed without pay" It limited the marketing and profit damage from the scandal. 

I know back in the NBA Bubble in 2020, there were some problems with "wine deliveries" into the site. Since the NBA was paying for everything, there was no free zone for anyone. The entire duration was a "league activity"  Wine is often used to mask PEDs during testing. But what if a player is drunk on that wine and is accusing of raping some hotel worker after she is given a spiked drink of wine? Then the league faces getting dragged into a lawsuit because they "allowed" that type of item into the Bubble in the first place. 

The practical mechanics will be this for Morant. The league's CBA mandates X number of regular PEDs tests a year and a couple of "surprise" tests at some point. However there is no formal schedule except you are guaranteed a test in the preseason, and one after the season is over. So what actually happens are that superstar players all know about their tests in advance, and get all their "surprise" tests early. This is why you see NBA superstars claiming they are in the best shape of their lives in the preseason and lost some weight to get faster on the court and be more dynamic. They are in an "off phase" to pass the tests. Then once they clear their last test, they can cycle freely, and be in a prime position for the playoffs. 

It's why LBJ looks so sluggish to start each season most of his career. No one really cares about the early regular season except for a few key nationally broadcast games and matchups. 

Morant will get a lot of rest, then he will get all his tests early and out of the way, then he will "cycle up", so when he comes back he can be at full steam to get the Grizzlies in the playoffs. Odds are next season will also have the schedule adjusted, so Memphis doesn't have too many tough games early, to balance out the record so they don't lose too many games early on. Then the refs will massage some games, to ensure the Grizzlies make the playoffs. Nike pays Morant a lot of money. They want a return on that investment. They want him in the playoffs. So do the networks. 

Memphis is a very deep team with a very deep bench. I don't think it would be 25 games if that was not true. Key to note, the suspension needs to "sound big" to the sports media and to fans and critics. Saying Morant is going to lose "a third of the season" as punishment sounds worse than the actual net effect against profit potential. As long as the NBA avoid Memphis for nationally broadcast games early on, this isn't going to sting their bottom line too badly.  Half the season, a third or a quarter, those are very visible "benchmarks" to allow for the best virtue signaling potential here from the league marketing. 

[Blue Horseshoe 348]

Experts warn red wine could mask testosterone levels

....Red wine could give athletes and players a boost in the sports arena by increasing the amount of performance-enhancing hormone testosterone in their bodies, according to researchers from London's Kingston University....However not only could it help them to trophy success, it could also allow them to beat anti-doping tests. A team led by Professor Declan Naughton from the University's School of Life Sciences found that red wine might reduce the amount of testosterone excreted by the body, which could distort the findings of drug tests taken from urine samples.

Testosterone is a naturally-occurring steroid hormone present in both men and women. It can increase muscle mass, boost stamina and speed up recovery. Sportspeople, however, are prohibited from taking it, or a synthetic version of it, to try to gain a competitive edge....Although red wine is not a banned substance away from the sports field, Professor Naughton's team has referred its findings to the World Anti-Doping Agency because of the newly-discovered side effect of potential change to the amount of testosterone in the body.

"Previous research has shown the effect over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs can have on enzymes," Professor Naughton explained. "Since many of these drugs are derived from plants, we decided to look at the effect particular foods and beverages can have on enzymes involved in testosterone excretion. We chose green tea and then red wine because both have a huge variety of natural molecules and we wanted to see if they affected the amount of testosterone excreted in urine."...The team found that a compound in red wine, known as quercetin, partially blocked the action of an enzyme called UGT2B17 which looks for testosterone and then sends a message to the kidneys to excrete it....

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-experts-red-wine-mask-testosterone.html

 

 

[listen2me 23 1,825]

2 hours ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

Why would he be suspended for possessing a gun?  This is a clear violation of the 2a

Yeah I don't get it.  The guy seems like a fool, a wanna be thug.  The culture.  But I don't really underatand this.  I do understand leagues and teams can basically call conduct detrimental to the team/league.  But he didn't do anything wrong.  Unless he was like threatening someone.  

[Blue Horseshoe 348]

7 minutes ago, listen2me 23 said:

Yeah I don't get it.  The guy seems like a fool, a wanna be thug.  The culture.  But I don't really underatand this.  I do understand leagues and teams can basically call conduct detrimental to the team/league.  But he didn't do anything wrong.  Unless he was like threatening someone.  

 

 

You can be disciplined through your workplace or even fired for something that is not technically illegal. 

NBA players are in a different sphere. Being bound by the "draft process" is not like the rest of the working world. You are literally forced to work somewhere as a drafted rookie. But you waive that by joining the NBA, which is a private organization. The discipline process, just like the draft protocols, are a function of collective bargaining.  

A cross over example is the New Jersey Nets and Kyrie Irving. He was given a team suspension, not a league suspension, for basically posting a link to a video that is available to be sold on Amazon's own website. Joe Tsai gave Irving a list of "conditions" to be reinstated. ( Remember that Irving is being suspended without pay)  One of Tsai's conditions was doing charity work for certain organizations. The other was a large financial donation to a Jewish advocacy group ( This was Tsai asking Irving to pay the "payoff" demanded on Tsai when the scandal started, i.e. if Tsai and the Nets don't make a donation, the activist group will keep smearing the Nets as anti semetic in public. This is why the Anheuser Busch and Bud Light situation is actually very complex. AB was sponsoring Mulvaney as a form of open socially acceptable corporate level "extortion". At some level, I understand why they did it. They gauged it woudl cost less than the activists trying to demonetize them) 

Tsai's "conditions" violated the CBA. It was a "fine" for Irving that skirted around league protocols on what is allowable to be seen as a "legal fine" that was collectively bargained. Even if the NBPA hate Irving, they must defend him in instances like this. 

By joining the NBA, Irving and Morant voluntarily waived certain nominal protections that would not normally be waived in most private sector jobs. But each industry is a little different. Teachers are different. Law enforcement. Military. 

As this site deals with the NFL, the most interesting "test case" is Aldon Smith. He got into a bad mess with alcohol. He was with the 49ers at the time. His agent called the league office and Goodell did not formally punish him. Goodell came up with every excuse in the book and said Smith needed help and he wanted to protect Smith because he was honest and humble. But the real story is there is a HUGE marketing pathway between the alcohol industry and the NFL. Including selling beer at stadiums. How do you reconcile in public, the scandal of Goodell punishing Aldon Smith for his alcoholism and his crimes ensuing, when the NFL is being blasted in sports bars full of beer, the stadium is full of beer selling  and alcohol usage and consumption is seen as hand in hand with football fans? 

Use some cocaine and get caught, and Goodell would roast you alive. 

But abuse alcohol and risk the  bad blood with the networks ( remember, how many alcohol commercials do you see during NFL games or even during normal broadcasts from the networks who give out those huge TV contracts to the league? ) and it's "different" 

What Morant really did wrong was he cost the NBA money. The "enforcement" is designed to limit the loss of that money to the bare minimum in the relative situation. There is no "equity" in justice in professional sports. Prime Michael Jordan could stab a fan to death in Chicago and get away with it. He literally got caught gambling and took a two year "silent suspension" when anyone else would have been banned for life. But Mike Dunleavy Jr?  Or Mario Chalmers? Those kind of guys? Those guys get hosed for far less. 

[Blue Horseshoe 348]

Goodell says Aldon Smith rehab could factor into punishment decision

October 26, 2013

San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Aldon Smith going to treatment for alcohol issues could provide a mitigating factor when the NFL contemplates if it will suspend him for violations of the personal conduct policy. "Yes, it will be a factor, for sure," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told Bay Area reporters in London.

Smith entered a rehab center in September following his second drunken driving arrest. "Certainly, the issue here isn't to discipline players. It's to stop the behavior," Goodell said. "Aldon has voluntarily said, 'I need help.'..."We're obviously there to support him, and the 49ers did a great job getting him into a facility to try to get help. We support that."

Goodell is no fan of players playing immediately after an arrest as Smith did, but acknowledged a difficult situation due to NFL Players Association rules...."We've made a couple of proposals to our union that we should take quicker action. But they've resisted that," Goodell said. "We have to operate within the context of the collective bargaining agreement and joint drug program. That's something we weren't in position to do."

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/goodell-says-aldon-smith-rehab-145042402--nfl.html

 

*****

This was back in 2013.

Since when does "Sheriff Roger" ever hide behind the NFLPA? Since when does he say he just can't do something if he wants to just plain do it? 

Since when does he say that "discipline" isn't the priority? 

This scandal might be the most pathetic and unintentionally hilarious as Goodell has ever been in the NFL. Goodell almost tries to sound empathetic. As if he has any empathy for anyone. Goodell is all about money above everything else and has the temperament and sympathy pathway of a Cyberdyne Systems T-1000 Terminator. 

He could literally hear the cash registers being set on fire if he went out and immediately suspended Aldon Smith back then. 

If some 10 year old boy had a video of prime Tom Brady and prime Peyton Manning doing PEDs together  years ago, IMHO Goodell would literally cut that kid's throat open without a second thought. 

Ja Morant is a Nike Signature endorsed athlete. 25 games is "light" relative to the situation presented in contrast to some other less marketable player. I'm not assessing "fair" or "unfair" into it. If some feel it's too heavy a punishment, then Adam Silver has done his job ( i.e. fostered the illusion that the punishment is both too light and too heavy at the same time, to appeal to different interests and profit motives. ) 

[posty 2,612]

The Grizzlies' GM thinks the suspension is appropriate...

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37903248/grizzlies-zach-kleiman-addresses-ja-morant-25-game-suspension

Memphis Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman said he believes the league's 25-game suspension of Ja Morant was "appropriate" and thinks the superstar guard now must focus on taking the "really serious steps" necessary to gain reinstatement by the league.

Kleiman spoke Thursday night after the conclusion of the NBA draft and addressed publicly for the first time the discipline the NBA handed down to Morant last week for conduct detrimental to the league.

The NBA suspended Morant for eight games in March, when he was seen on Instagram Live holding up a handgun while intoxicated at a Denver-area club. Last week's discipline came after a May video on social media circulated showing Morant brandishing a firearm again.

"The thing to focus on at this point ... what's Ja going to commit to going forward?" Kleiman told reporters. "What are the steps that he's prepared to take for the NBA to grant the ability to rejoin the team after serving the suspension?

"I think there's a lot of healthy dialogue there. I think everyone did acknowledge early on that this was going to be ongoing and Ja wasn't just going to become the best version of himself overnight. I think there's many really serious steps that he needs to continue to take."

Commissioner Adam Silver said when the suspension was announced last week that it would come with conditions for his return, including Morant being "required to formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior."

In the meantime, Morant will be ineligible to participate in any public league or team activities, including preseason games, during the suspension.

"There's no strain in the relationship, but we have high expectations of the standard that Ja is going to have to hold himself to," Kleiman told reporters.