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Ja Morant, the Memphis Grizzlies point guard, got suspended for 25 games in the National Basketball League (NBA) on June 16, Friday. The suspension for the 23-year-old player comes in the wake of a second incident involving a gun. He was seen waving a firearm in hand on May 13, accompanied by his friend s in a car, while being recorded and streamed on Instagram Live from Memphis.
The first incident involving Ja Morant with a gun happened on March 4 of this year, when he displayed a firearm on Instagram Live, while in an intoxicated state at a nightclub in the Denver area. After getting suspended for eight games without pay, he had made commitments to the NBA and public statements to not repeat his conduct again, but to no avail.
NBA released a statement regarding Ja Morant, while confirming that his suspension will begin immediately and will remain in effect throughout the first 25 games of the 2023-24 regular season for which he is otherwise eligible and able to play.
Talking about the loss of money for the Memphis Grizzlies point guard from suspension, the ESPN Insider from the NBA Front Office, Bobby Marks revealed that Ja Morant stands to incur USD 7.6 million in losses from not playing in 25 games in the next regular season. It amounts to USD 305,545 per game, according to the conditions stipulated in Morant’s contract with the Grizzlies.
Bobby Marks also mentioned that the point guard is entering the year 1 of his USD 194 million rookie max contract extension with the team, which he signed last July. His off-court incidents have, in all likelihood, played a major role in his exclusion from the All-NBA teams, which have led to him losing more contract money.
Furthermore, Ja Morant is expected to lose millions of dollars of money from his endorsement deals with Nike, Hulu, Beats by Dre, Panini America, and Powerade, among others, who are either going to disassociate with the point guard for the length of his suspension or terminate their association in its entirety.
