NBA: Grizzlies suspend Ja Morant for flashing gun on livestream

NBA player Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies has found himself in hot water after brandishing a gun live on social media on Saturday. The Instagram Live video has now gone viral, and has been reposted multiple times since it was initially streamed.

Morant was seen inside a vehicle with friends, where he was dancing around to some music. He suddenly pulled out a gun, and the friend holding the camera quickly tried to hide the gun from view by turning the gun away from the basketball star. He seemed to block the video by holding the phone against his shoulder, but eagle-eyed fans already spotted the weapon.

Needless to say, apart from screen recordings of the video itself, screenshots have also been taken which show the point guard holding a gun while dancing in his seat with the seatbelt on.

The Grizzlies needed no further evidence to immediately suspend Morant from all team activities. In a statement, the team said: "We are aware of the social media post involving Ja Morant. He is suspended from all team activities pending League review. We have no further comment at this time."

Unfortunately, this is not the first incident involving Morant and firearms. Back in March this year, he had already been suspended for eight games. It came after he was also seen flashing a gun around a nightclub in Denver. Apart from the suspension, he also checked himself into a stress management clinic.

He was the first to admit that his off-court issues affected his performance and became a distraction. After crashing out of the playoffs, he said: "I've just got to be better with my decision-making. That's pretty much it. Off-the-court issues affected us as an organization pretty much. Just [need] more discipline."

More gun-related incidents tied to Morant

Back in January, the Indiana Pacers named Morant in a case where they claimed that a gun was pointed at members of their team. According to the complaint, an altercation occurred between the Pacers and "associates of Morant." After which, an SUV believed to be carrying the Grizzlies player pointed a red laser at the Pacers squad, and they believed this to be the kind of laser used by a sniper to pinpoint targets.

The NBA conducted an investigation at that time, but they came to the conclusion that no "individual threatened others with a weapon."

Unfortunately, while Morant was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Pacers incident, he put himself in hot water again just a few months later. In March, a police report surfaced wherein he was accused of exposing a gun after allegedly punching a teenager about a dozen times in the head.

The incident allegedly took place last summer while Morant and a group of friends were having a basketball game at his backyard. According to Fox News, the NBA star admitted to throwing the first punch at a 17-year-old boy, who was a guest at his house.

Apparently, they had been exchanging hard passes during a basketball game and the ball slipped while Morant was receiving a pass and it hit his face. He saw this as a sign of aggression and claimed that the teenager showed signs of wanting to fight.

Morant also alleged that the teenager threatened him by saying he was "gonna come back and light this place up like fireworks." The professional baller then proceeded to punch the boy a dozen times, He later filed a police report claiming that the boy had been threatening his family.

In that same week, Morant and a group of his friends also had an altercation with security officers at a mall in Memphis. The incident stemmed from the player's mother getting into a dispute in one of the shops, and she subsequently called her son who arrived with a group of friends.

There was a verbal confrontation between the group and the mall's security, but no arrests were made in the aftermath. All of these incidents will likely be considered as the team and the NBA investigate the player's latest infraction.