By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Memphis Grizzlies suspended Ja Morant on May 14 after a video posted on social media with him holding a firearm. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the decision was made about disciplinary actions but would be announced after the NBA finals.
During his annual news conference before the NBA Finals opener, Silver said the “history of prior acts” and “the individual player’s history” would be considered.
“We’ve uncovered a fair amount of additional information, I think since I was first asked about the situation. I will say we probably could have brought it to a head now, but we made the decision, and I believe the players association agrees with us, that it would be unfair to these players and these teams in the middle of the series to announce the results of that investigation,” Silver stated.
The Grizzlies star was already suspended for eight games by the NBA for a similar incident in March. Was the punishment too light?
“I guess, in hindsight, I don’t know. If it had been a 12-game suspension instead of an eight-game suspension, would that have mattered? I know it seemed based on precedent, and he’s represented, and we want to be fair in terms of the league; it seemed appropriate at the time. That’s all I can say. Maybe by definition, to the extent we’ve all seen the video that it appears he’s done it again, I guess you could say maybe not,” Silver answered.
NBA Commissioner also talked about what has to be done going forward.
“But I don’t think we yet know what it will take to change his behavior. Same thing I said at the time: He seems to be a fine young man. In terms of my dealings with him, I think he’s clearly made some mistakes, but he’s young, and I’m hoping now — once we conclude at the end of our process what the appropriate discipline is, that it’s not just about the discipline, it’s about now what we, the players association, his team and he and the people around him are going to do to create better circumstances going forward,” Adam Silver concluded.