Ja Morant Faces Backlash for His ‘Immature’ Celebration as Grizzlies Point Guard Crosses the Line

Ja Morant has found himself in hot water once more after mimicking the action of aiming an imaginary gun to celebrate 3-pointers, prompting him to adopt an alternative fictitious celebration involving a grenade.

The star scorer for the Memphis Grizzlies celebrated a long-range shot during his team’s 141-125 defeat to the Timberwolves by pretending to pull the pin and throw a grenade.

Morant, who went 5 of 13 from beyond the arc, even appeared to cover his ears following his windmill-like toss of the imaginary grenade.

“That’s my celebration now until someone else has an issue with it, then I’ll switch it up,” Morant stated after the team’s shootaround on Friday (AEDT).

Last week, the league imposed a fine of $120,000 AUD on Morant after he made several “inappropriate” gestures mimicking aiming a gun during games.

The league had previously cautioned him that such actions could be viewed unfavourably.

Morant’s gestures that led to the fine were made during the Grizzlies’ narrow victory over the Miami Heat, but they initially attracted the league’s scrutiny just days before during a home match against the Golden State Warriors.

This prompted an investigation and a warning, but Morant went ahead and repeated the action against Miami.

This fine is the latest consequence following a series of concerning incidents involving firearms.

At the start of the 2023-24 season, he was suspended for 25 games after being filmed waving a gun from a vehicle. Earlier, he had also received an eight-game suspension for being spotted with a gun in a nightclub in Denver.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Morant commented regarding the recent fine, “just reflecting on what’s been quite apparent for the last two years.”

Teammate Vince Williams Jr. expressed little surprise at the change in Morant’s celebration, remarking, “I would have gone for that too.”

“It’s good for him,” Williams added.

“Anything that helps him save money is something I’m fully in favour of.”

However, Morant’s grenade celebration has drawn criticism from the TNT studio team.

Kenny Smith pointed out that Morant “has a history that suggests he perhaps shouldn’t be doing that.”

Shaquille O’Neal remarked: “He knows full well what he’s doing because it keeps you all talking about it.”

Meanwhile, Charles Barkley suggested that the person most pleased by this turn of events might be former Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, who was sacked in late March, as he “no longer has to contend with this immature behaviour.”