Ja Morant opens up about gun incident in first interview since suspension
Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant was just suspended by the NBA for eight games for “holding a firearm in an intoxicated state while visiting a Denver area nightclub.” We know he did that because the 23-year-old filmed the incident on Instagram Live.
While Morant has admitted that he made a mistake in that moment, it's worth noting that the two-time All-Star is denying that the weapon he brandished was his.
"You were holding a gun and we both know how dangerous that could be. Whose gun were you holding?" Jalen Rose had asked him in the promo clip for the sitdown interview with ESPN.
"The gun wasn't mine," Morant said. "It's not who I am, I don't condone any time of violence. I take full responsibility for my actions. I made a bad mistake and I can see the image that I painted over myself with my recent mistakes, but in the future I'm going to show everybody who Ja really is, what I'm about, and change this narrative."
Morant touched upon "recent mistakes" because he's been involved in a few as of late. The Instagram Live incident was simply the tipping point.
Morant had allegedly gotten in a fight with a 17-year-old over pickup basketball, allegedly had gotten in a confrontation at a security guard in a mall, allegedly had a confrontation at a high school volleyball game and there was a postgame incident between some of his associates and the Indiana Pacers in late January.
"Honestly, I feel like we put ourselves in that situation with our past mistakes, and now it's only right that we focus in and lock in on being smarter and more responsible, holding each other accountable for everything," Morant told Rose, referring to himself as well as his inner circle. "I feel like in the past we didn't know what was at stake. And now finally me having that time to realize everything, have that time alone, I realize that now.
"I realize what I have to lose, and for us as a group, what we have to lose. It's pretty much just that being more responsible, more smarter and staying away from all the bad decisions."
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