Ja Morant Suspended For 25 Games Following Recent IG Live Gun Incident

Two months after being suspended from all Memphis Grizzlies activities following a second Instagram Live gun incident, NBA star Ja Morant has been suspended for 25 games, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

While NBA Commissioner has been talking about Morant's situation over the course of the past few months, he didn't want to announce the exact suspension until after the 2023 NBA Finals were done, as to not take away from that.

With the Denver Nuggets winning the championship over the Miami Heat earlier this week, and the Nuggets' championship parade yesterday, the time to release the Grizzlies star's punishment has arrived.

Wojnarowski shared the news via Twitter on Friday morning.

Many fans commented that they were surprised by the number of games Morant, 23, is suspended for. It seems that most fans in the comments were surprised that he was only suspended for 25 games.

"That’s actually less than I thought he would get, seems pretty light," one person shared. Another wrote, "Should be 82 games." Another fan added, "25 games seems like just another slap on the wrist tbh."

One fan thought a higher game suspension was in order. "Honestly it should have been the full season how many chances is the guy going to keep getting but the reason why they won't do a full season is because it's going to cost money."

Another fan wonders what's going to happen to Morant if he makes another bad choice. "I wonder what they're gonna do with him when he screws up again lol guarantee it's going to happen too."

Stephen A. Smith also chimed in on the 25-game suspension.

"Not surprised at all. I've been saying for weeks that it was gonna be about 25 games and sure enough, that's about right," Smith explained.

"Unfortunately, this is a suspension that Ja Morant deserved. And a suspension that he received, that I think he deserved, is not because of the 'mistakes or his actions' or whatever. It's because it was in the aftermath of him meeting face-to-face with Adam Silver, assuring Adam Silver that he appreciated the significance and the seriousness of the situation the first go-round when he was only suspended eight games. And then turned around and found himself in that position again."

Smith continued to explain that Silver felt betrayed because Morant said one thing and turned around and did the opposite.

"When you answer to other people, what you don't do is look them in their face and tell them a lie, and misrepresent yourself in that way," he said. "Because you're gonna come back and ultimately pay a price for that."

Wojnarowski also gave some additional information on Morant's suspension.

"I'm also told there will be conditions to his return. I think those will be clarified here soon by the league office," he said. "I think the Grizzlies, those around the NBA, were bracing for the possibility it could have been even more. But 25 games is significant, certainly to start the season."

Wojnarowski said now the Grizzlies can do their offseason planning knowing how long they'll be without Morant. He also said Morant will have to work to regain the trust of the organization and the community.

When asked by Smith why Wojnarowski believes the specific reason 25 games were decided for the suspension, he explained a new "jumping off point that has an impact."

"You miss 18 games now, there's a 65-game minimum that players have to play to make All-NBA, to be MVP, to win defensive player of the year," he said.

"Well, he's out of consideration now. Ja Morant is, for any of those post-season awards. That will kick in with this new collective bargaining agreement."