Ja Morant is still awaiting to his punishment for a May 13 live stream in which he was seen flashing a gun while driving around Memphis. Commissioner Adam Silver, who was "shocked" by the video, has refused to disclose Morant's punishment until the conclusion of the NBA Finals. However, the suspension is expected to be lengthy. Many pundits believe Morant will not only be punished for his actions, but also for seemingly rebuking the league. Morant was briefly suspended for a similar incident in March but preached reform and contrition after returning to the court.
However, a report from Claudia Jordan of The Breakfast Club has added a new twist to the saga. Sources from within Morant's camp told Jordan that the gun Morant was seen with was a toy gun. Furthermore, the sources claimed that the NBA is aware the gun was fake. However, they allege that the NBA is still preparing to hand down a suspension in the range of 30 games. Now the NBA has fired back about these allegations through Commissioner Adam Silver.
Adam Silver Dismisses Significant Of Gun's Authenticity
Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show, Silver made it very clear where he stood on the new claims from Morant's camp. "It's interesting," Silver said. "The very issue 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, live streaming 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 that guns aren't toys. "It's something that I'm thinking a lot about because, again, I'm not going to get into specifics about the investigation. But in fact, if you're live streaming something to the world that looks exactly like a gun and in a frankly reckless manner, should it matter whether or not it's a real gun?"
It's clear that the intention of Morant's camp was to try and sway public opinion. By claiming the gun was fake, they were attempting to downplay the severity of what Morant did. However, that has backfired spectacularly thanks to this collected response from Silver. A basic rule of PR is don't tee up your detractors. Furthermore, this saga should become a textbook example of what not to do. Silver put his, and by extension the NBA's, foot down and the latest claims from Ja Morant's camp may have done more harm than good to his pending case.
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