Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant appeared to have mimicked the wrong kind of shooting motion Tuesday in an overtime win against the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Grizzlies guard silenced the crowd at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, La. with an alley-oop slam to put Memphis on top 115-109 with 13.1 seconds left. The visitors held on for the 116-115 victory on the road.
JA MORANT. SEALS THE DEAL.
Memphis pulls out the win in an OT thriller! pic.twitter.com/AlAyrwxQaO
— NBA (@NBA) December 27, 2023
For a brief moment, Morant flashed what seemed like a finger gun as he celebrated the play. He closed his fist a split-second later. It’s not exactly a great look for a player just coming off a gun-related 25-game suspension.
Ja spraying imaginary bullets into section 113 after the slam pic.twitter.com/UPh0SI4PmO
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 27, 2023
Some fans on social media claimed that Morant’s dance was an homage to the celebrations used by LSU football players in Baton Rouge. Morant even reposted one fan’s clip showing off LSU players hitting similar moves as Morant.
Ja Morant pulled out that BR cellyyyyyyy😂😂😂😂😂🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/IF5379EDg9 pic.twitter.com/25Kdw6u8hE
— Racqy Balboa🍨 𝕏 (@RacqyDaRuler) December 27, 2023
However, Morant’s gesture still left a handful of observers on X stunned.
The optics of ja morant own employer promoting the flashing of gun hand motions after coming back from a 25 game suspension is insane 💀💀 https://t.co/zFqUdsCDbj
— John (@iam_johnw) December 27, 2023
Mfer always playing with fire 😂😂😂
— PardonMyPick (@pardonmypick) December 27, 2023
The celebration was reminiscent of Gilbert Arenas infamously flashing finger guns following his own gun-related suspension during the 2009-10 season.
I need Ja Morant to hit a 3 tonight and do a pistol celebration like Gilbert Arenas did after coming off the gun suspension pic.twitter.com/PmHE9Ea1VI
— The Hood Therapist (@OhhMar24) December 19, 2023
Arenas himself saw Morant’s apparent finger gun gesture as well. The former Washington Wizards guard reposted the celebration on X with a GIF of Golden State Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala chastising Andrew Wiggins.
pic.twitter.com/YDDmzjdVIT https://t.co/H14MtbI9C3
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) December 27, 2023
Morant finished with a game-high 31 points and 7 assists. The Grizzlies are now 4-0 since their All-Star point guard returned from his suspension.
