Ja Morant’s 25-game suspension is set to end in less than two weeks and NBA commissioner Adam Silver revealed they’ll be meeting once before he steps on the court.
“I have been monitoring the situation closely and him. In fact, we intend to have a check-in this week directly, Ja and I,” Silver said. “Folks in the league office, together with Ja and his team and the Players Association, have been in regular contact, essentially weekly. There have been those checkpoints.
Silver revealed a program has been put in place for Morant and as far as he knows, the Memphis Grizzlies superstar has done everything correctly.
“We, together, laid out a program for him over the last several weeks, and to the best of my knowledge, he’s complied with everything he’s been asked to do,” Silver continued. “As I said, we’re gonna talk directly once at least this week before he comes back. I think we’ll review the program and just make sure the conditions are in place for him to be successful going forward.”
Adam Silver says he’s meeting with Ja Morant next week to make sure everything is good to go for him to come back from his 25 game suspension #nba pic.twitter.com/t8lLeifA3L
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) December 10, 2023
Considering how nothing seemed to change for the better after the first suspension, I don’t necessarily blame Silver for wanting to have one check-in before Ja gets the green light. Hopefully, everything has actually gone according to plan and he comes back on the court on December 19 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Adam Silver Was Shocked After The Second Gun Incident
Morant’s first gun incident back in March, when he flashed a gun on Instagram Live at a nightclub, only led to an eight-game suspension from the league. He had met with Silver at that time and had reportedly given the commissioner assurances that it wouldn’t happen again.
Unfortunately, it did happen again in May when he flashed a gun on his friend’s Instagram Live. Silver stated he was shocked by Morant’s second gun incident, which was quite understandable.
Stephen A. Smith felt Morant ended up getting a 25-game suspension because he lied to Silver, and it very well could be. Also, once you break that trust, it is hard to get it back, and the 24-year-old will have to be on his best behavior moving forward.
The Grizzlies’ Struggles Without Ja Morant
In the past, the Grizzlies had managed to have some success with Morant not in the lineup but that has not been the case this season. They are 13th in the Western Conference with a 6-15 record, with the biggest issue, unsurprisingly, being their offense.
Without Morant, who averaged 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game last season, the Grizzlies have an offensive rating of 106.8, which ranks second from bottom in the NBA.
They’ll certainly be a lot better on that end of the floor when he returns, but it’s hard to see this team making the playoffs now. They’ve dug themselves into this big hole and will need to rack up wins at a ridiculous rate in a strong Western Conference, which seems difficult.
Especially so, with Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke on the sidelines. Adams is out for the season while there is no timetable for Clarke’s return. The Grizzlies ranked second in the NBA last season in rebounding but now without those two, they are down at 25th. This just seems like a lost season due to a variety of factors at this point.
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