Ja Morant, the NBA superstar who was accused of flashing a handgun at a teen over the summer, went viral early Saturday when an Instagram Live video surfaced in which he appears to be displaying a gun for a second time at a strip club.
The 23-year-old Memphis Grizzlies All-Star point guard is seen shirtless and rapping along with the music in the Instagram Live video posted at 5:19 a.m., lifting what appears to
be a gun near the side of his head.
Morant was suspended and will be “away from the team” for at least their next two games, the Grizzlies announced. The NBA said it is probing the incident.
“We are aware of a social media post involving Ja Morant and are investigating,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.
The clip, shot hours after Morant and his Grizzlies lost 113-97 to the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, is the latest in a string of apparent gun-related controversies involving the phenom.
Morant was sued in September for clocking a 17-year-old in the face during the pickup game at his Tennessee mansion, but the NBA star has insisted it was in self-defense.
On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the incident could have been much worse. The teen told detectives Morant hit him more than a dozen times and then went into his home after the scuffle — only to return with one hand holding a gun visible from
the waistband of his pants, the newspaper reported.
Prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges. On Thursday, Morant drew even more criticism for doing a finger-gun celebration during a victory over the Houston Rockets.
Morant filed a police report of his own on the incident, accusing the boy, a top Memphis-area basketball prospect, of threatening to return to the home and “light this place up like fireworks.”
The story also reported an incident in which a head of security at a mall said Morant “threatened” him and that a member of Morant’s crew pushed him.
Morant’s agent, Jim Tanner, called the Washington Post report “irresponsible and defamatory.”
Morant was also investigated by the NBA earlier this season after members of the Pacers accused associates of Morant of pointing a red laser at them following a confrontation.
The NBA said in a statement its investigation into the alleged incident with the Pacers “could not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon.”
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