NBA Star Ja Morant Allowed To Practice With Grizzlies While Serving 25-Game Suspension

Suspended Memphis Grizzlies basketball player Ja Morant is being allowed to practice and travel with his team while he serves out his punishment.

According to ESPN, the controversial guard was on the basketball court with the Grizzlies despite being suspended for 25 games for conduct detrimental to the league. The troubled NBA player, who has had issues with handguns in the past year, was at the Grizzlies’ home stadium, the FedExForum, on Oct. 3.

Zach Kleiman, general manager of the Grizzlies, spoke about the NBA permitting Morant to participate in team activities while he serves out his suspension.

“I think it’s great for Ja, and I think it’s great for the group that he can be with us day-to-day,” Kleiman said during the team’s media day on Oct. 2. “The NBA basically has said that as long as Ja continues to stay on track, he’s going to be clear to participate in all private team activities, so practices, shoot-arounds, traveling with the team. He’s not going to be with us, obviously, for preseason games and the first 25, but we’ll see him out there and we can’t wait to have him back Game 26.”

Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins revealed that Morant will work with the bench players during training camp to allow the team to prepare to play without him through his suspension.

“We’ve got a separate plan designed for him outside just the team training where we’re going to push him,” Jenkins said. “He’s excited about it and how we can challenge him even more, when we talk about being the best version of Ja moving forward.”

In June 2023, the NBA suspended the Grizzlies’ All-Star guard for the first 25 games of the 2023–24 season. This was due to an incident where Morant was seen on an Instagram Live flashing a gun. That was the second occurrence of being seen on social media with a gun in his hand. The 23-year-old was first suspended for eight games in March 2023 following another incident where he was seen with a gun on an Instagram Live video at a Denver nightclub. Morant received his latest suspension after he was seen on a friend’s Instagram feed holding what appeared to be a gun a month earlier.