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Another troubling Ja Morant video surfaces
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Another troubling Ja Morant video surfaces

When Ja Morant trends on Twitter, it usually isn't good. On Sunday morning, he was trending yet again for all the wrong reasons.

A video posted on Instagram Live showed Morant in the driver's seat of a friend's car. For a brief moment, Morant flashes a gun onscreen. 

For those keeping track at home, Morant has as many videos of himself waving a gun (two) as he had playoff wins this year. 

After a road loss at the Nuggets on Mar. 3, Morant posted a video to social media showing him waving a gun at a nightclub.  

On Mar. 4, Morant released a statement in which he took "full responsibility" for his actions and said he was "sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down." 

He announced he was "going to take some time away" to "work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being." 

Commissioner Adam Silver suspended Morant for eight games on Mar. 15, taking into account the five games missed before he handed down the suspension. 

Morant lost out on $39 million when he failed to make All-NBA this season and the more he displays poor decision-making off the court, the more he risks losing more money, whether in future contracts or endorsement deals.

It's up to the league, the Grizzlies and Morant to decide where things go from here, but instead of this offseason being about what Memphis can do to build a contender around Morant, incidents like this will bring inquiries about what can be done so Morant avoids these situations and whether he can be depended on to make those necessary changes.

On the court, Morant is worth every penny of the five-year, $193 million max contract he signed last offseason. But his recent past suggests he can't be trusted to avoid negative publicity and the repercussions that come with it. Worse yet, he seemingly forgot the lessons learned from his previous incident only two months ago.

In a statement announcing Morant's suspension in March, Silver said:

Ja's conduct was irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous. It also has serious consequences given his enormous following and influence, particularly among young fans who look up to him. He has expressed sincere contrition and remorse for his behavior. Ja has also made it clear to me he has learned from this incident and that he understands his obligations and responsibility to the Memphis Grizzlies and the broader NBA community extend well beyond his play on the court.

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