Grizzlies’ star Ja Morant says he’ll get ‘help’; video shows apparent gun

Ja Morant will be away from the Memphis Grizzlies for at least their next two games, the team announced Saturday, not long after the NBA opened an investigation into a social media post by the guard after he livestreamed himself holding what appeared to be a gun at a nightclub.

Morant said in a statement distributed through the agency that represents him that he takes “full responsibility” for his actions — adding that he was going to “take some time away to get help.”

The video was streamed by Morant on his Instagram page early Saturday, hours after the Grizzlies played in Denver. They were flying to Los Angeles on Saturday for games against the Clippers on Sunday and the Lakers on Tuesday.

Morant will miss those two games, at minimum, the Grizzlies said, without any further comment.

“We are aware of a social media post involving Ja Morant and are investigating,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.

The league will try to speak with Morant as part of that investigation, though it is unclear when any meeting may occur. Morant apologized in the statement released by Tandem Sports + Entertainment.

“I take full responsibility for my actions last night,” Morant said. “I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down. I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”

It was not immediately clear what Morant meant by “help” or if he planned to be away from the team for longer than the twogame minimum announced by the Grizzlies.

The league, if it finds wrongdoing, could fine or suspend Morant. Based on the Grizzlies’ statement, the earliest Morant could play again is Thursday at home against Golden State. His Instagram and Twitter accounts were disabled shortly after the Grizzlies announced his absence.

Memphis is currently No. 2 in the Western Conference standings, led by Morant, a twotime All-Star averaging 27.1 points and 8.2 assists per game.

This is at least the second time in the last few weeks that Morant has been the subject of a league investigation. Morant’s actions were investigated by the league after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led to a friend of his being banned from home games there for a year.