All indications now point to a stiff sentence coming down the line for star Memphis Grizzlies Guard Ja Morant.
Given a chance before Game 1 of the NBA Finals to address the Morant situation last Thursday, Commissioner Adam Silver refused to give details about how he would rule, saying he would wait until after the Finals. But he added that the reason for that was the league now had obtained “additional information” that would be factored into the decision.
Morant remains on team suspension from all basketball-related activities. But the league has made no ruling, and the consensus from Silvers comments about not wanting to take attention from the Finals is that he may hand down one of the steepest suspensions ever given a player.
For many commentators and pundits, there is little consideration and/or compassion being extended towards Morant. Their view is he got off light before for his first video pose with a gun, and has shown neither restraint or good sense biding it a second time.
The minority view is that Morant is a troubled young man with possible emotional issues and deserves counseling and care with a minimum amount of punishment.
But Silver is under enormous pressure to come down hard. He has long been viewed as overly permissive regarding player conduct, and he took a PR pounding for his last ruling that only gave Morant eight total games, really six because he was already hurt and the suspension got backdated to include two injury games.
That Morant seemed repentant in interviews and even attended counseling sessions in Miami was dismissed by critics at the time as insincere and phony.
Now both the Grizzlies and Morant are at a crossroads. Should he get the half-season or worse suspension many anticipate, it straps the Grizzlies of their star attraction for long periods of time. It also negatively affects them from a competitive standpoint. A team that had finished second two-straight years in the Western Conference and has aspirations of winning a title can hardly benefit from the half season loss of its best player.
A messy situation for both Ja Morant and the Grizzlies, as well as the entire league, may soon get uglier.
