Real Or Fake, Adam Silver Said 'Gun Safety Is Important, Guns Aren't Toys' When Discussing Ja Morant
By Melanie VanDerveer on June 9, 2023 at 11:30 AM EDT
Does it matter if the gun Ja Morant was flashing in his latest Instagram Live was real or fake? That's a question that's been circulating around the internet for the past few days.
During a recent episode of "The Dan Patrick Show," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed talk that's been going on about the gun possibly being a toy gun, as well as the situation as a whole.
Adam Silver Addresses The Question: Real Or Fake Gun, Does It Change Anything?
When asked if the investigation into Morant's May Instagram Live is over and Silver is just waiting for the Finals to conclude before announcing any decision, Silver said, "We are waiting for the Finals to be over."
Silver then explained that he was aware of the things being said online about the gun in the video that Morant flashed possibly being a fake gun.
"I'm aware, of course, of these reports on social media about whether the gun was in fact a gun, and so we haven't completely wrapped it up," Silver said, to which Patrick asked if that matters.
"You know, it's interesting, the very issue is, for Ja certainly in the first incident, was treating a gun as a toy. That's what we're talking about and that's what I think the danger is to society; taking a gun, livestreaming it. Without getting into gun issues in terms of the propriety of owning guns and the use of guns, I think everyone agrees that gun safety is critically important, and guns aren't toys."
Silver then reiterated that gun safety is the issue, and it doesn't exactly matter if the gun in the video is real or fake.
"If you are live streaming something that to the world looks exactly like a gun, and in a frankly reckless manner, should it matter whether or not it's a real gun?" Silver explained.
"I will say, at the end of the day, in terms of doing my job, everything that is presented to us is relevant. Past conduct is relevant, the circumstances in which you're doing whatever the act is becomes relevant and, in this case, obviously, we're gonna take into account whatever is presented to us."
Adam Silver Was Disappointed In Ja Morant's Choice To Flash A Gun During An Instagram Live A Second Time
While talking about Morant's recent string of trouble, many have said they feel Silver was personally disappointed and felt let down after the second IG Live incident, because Morant seemed sincere that he was going to make better choices. Patrick asked if that was the case, and Silver agreed that he was disappointed.
"Honestly, my stance was he was very sincere in how contrite he was, in how serious he was taking the issue. Again, now talking about the first incident, where there's no fact in dispute, he was holding a gun, inebriated, in a club, waving it, livestreaming it, that's the first go-round," he said.
"I know Ja a bit, I've known him, he's a star in our league. And the sense was, he came in, he fully owned it, said it was a terrible mistake, I'll learn from the mistake, and so then, to get the report and then to see online that in fact he was then livestreaming a gun, certainly looks like a gun, a Glock, in a kind of reckless manner, sure, I was incredibly disappointed."