Ja Morant showed the NBA on Thursday that he does not care what people think of his gun-related celebrations, and the latest antics have earned the Memphis Grizzlies star another fine.
The NBA announced on Friday that Morant has been fined $75,000 for making a gun-related gesture after he was previously issued a warning.
Morant drew scrutiny for making a gun gesture toward the opposing bench during the Grizzlies’ 134-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night (video here). Buddy Heild made a similar gesture back, and the NBA issued warnings to both players. The NBA ruled that the gestures were “not intended to be violent in nature” but were still “inappropriate.”
Morant apparently felt that gave him the green light to do it again. The star point guard made the same motion with his arms after he sank a three-pointer early in the Grizzlies’ 110-108 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
The NBA’s announcement on Thursday said that the $75,000 fine was the result of Morant “twice making an inappropriate gesture on the playing court.”
The following was released by the NBA: pic.twitter.com/rQfUDpj1Ao
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 4, 2025
Morant essentially begged for the fine, and the NBA granted his wish. The 25-year-old has been accused of bringing out a gun to threaten a boy who was playing basketball at his house. He was suspended 8 games in March 2023 after being shown with a gun on social media. Then in June 2023, the star point guard was suspended 25 games after flashing a gun in another social media video.
Yet, even after all that, Morant still decided to do a different gun-themed celebration after he threw down an alley-oop in December 2023.
If Morant does not holster his finger guns moving forward, harsher punishment will likely be handed down by the NBA.
