NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday spoke bluntly when it comes to Ja Morant's immediate future in the league.
Silver, speaking to ESPN's Malika Andrews ahead of Tuesday's NBA Draft lottery, said he is "assuming the worst" after yet another video showed the two-time NBA All-Star brandishing a gun on Instagram Live. It is now up to the league to determine the length of Morant's impending suspension for the 2023-24 season.
Making matters worse for the league is that Morant is a repeat offender: A similar video emerged on March 4, with Morant holding a firearm in a Colorado nightclub hours after Memphis lost to the top-seeded Nuggets. He took a leave of absence from the team, and the NBA on March 15 said it levied an eight-game suspension against him for conduct detrimental to the league.
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Silver said he spoke to Morant at the time and that he assumed the latter had taken the matter seriously. In speaking to Andrews on Tuesday, Silver intimated the two did not discuss what consequences Morant may potentially face if a similar video were to emerge.
Well, we talked directly about the consequences first, before we got to a subsequent potential to have done something wrong. We were very focused on the misconduct that was in front of us at the time. And frankly, most of our conversation was about how incredibly serious the first incident was, waving a firearm on social media.
And again, the consequences there, an eight-game suspension was pretty serious and something that he at least to me seemed to take incredibly serious in that time. And we spoke a long time not just about the consequences that could have on his career, the safety issues on it. He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that.
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Silver's interview also suggested Morant's star power is another contributing factor in his impending suspension. The NBA is a global enterprise, and Morant is one of its most forward-facing stars. For that, Silver also admonished Morant for brandishing the firearm in what he described as a celebratory manner.
"He's a star, he has an incredibly huge following. My concern — and I thought he shared with me — millions, if not tens of millions of kids, globally, would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way," Silver said. "That act, of using a firearm in that fashion. And so I at least was left with the sense that he was taking this incredibly seriously."
Morant did offer an apology in a statement that was released shortly after Silver's pre-draft lottery interview.
"I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me," Morant said, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. "This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself."
But that may not be enough to prevent Morant from facing a lengthy suspension to start the 2023-24 season. Wojnarowski on Sunday reported the Memphis star faces a "significant suspension" and that Silver has a "wide-ranging latitude" to determine its length.
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And Silver's closing comments with Andrews did little to suggest Morant will avoid a considerably longer suspension after his second offense:
"Honestly, I was shocked when I saw this weekend — that video," Silvers said. "Now, we’re in the process of investigating it, and we'll figure out exactly what happened to the best we can then. The video is a little bit grainy and all that, but I'm assuming the worst."