Has Ja Morant been suspended for 50 games? Debunking the viral rumor after more than 6 million people saw the claim circulating on Twitter.
Ja Morant is one of the most popular and talented young players in the NBA today. However, lately, his off-court behaviour has overshadowed his on-court play.
Recently, Molly Hensley-Clancy of the Washington Post reported that Morant has been accused of allegedly punching and flashing a gun at a 17-year-old and threatening a mall security guard.
Morant subsequently deactivated his social media accounts and also issued a statement on the alleged incident.
In his statement, he wrote: “I take full responsibility for my actions last night. I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis, and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down. I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”
He was suspended indefinitely by the Grizzlies
On Saturday 4 March, the Memphis Grizzlies announced Ja would be away from the team for at least the next two games:
“The focus right now is that Ja’s taken on the responsibility to really get the help he needs to get into a better place, generally speaking, but also on the flip side, to be in a better place to embrace the responsibilities and expectations as a member of this team,” head coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters on March 6. “That’s what we’re dialoguing about. That’s what we’re going to support him through. We’re also going to hold him accountable, too.”
Has Ja Morant been suspended for 50 games?
At present there is no timeline for Ja’s return. However, on social media there were rumors that Ja Morant has been suspended for 50 games.
However, this is false.
The claim was posted by a parody account pretending to be popular Twitter account TheNBACentral, which has over a million followers and has been featured on ESPN and FoxSports.
However, the post that claimed Ja Morant had been suspended for 50 games was posted by TheNBACantral. The account has 660 followers.
The post was believable as it featured the same profile picture as TheNBACentral. ‘The NBA has given Ja Morant a 50-game suspension’, the satirical account tweeted. They even tagged senior NBA insider Shams Charania to make the post even more plausible:
The post has been viewed over 6 million times on Twitter and managed to dupe many fans.
‘I fell for this’, one person said.
The rumor stemmed from several legitimate reports that Ja Morant could be suspended for 50 games.
“Basically, the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) says if there is a firearm on team premises (or on a team plane), that’s an automatic 50-game suspension,” senior NBA reporter Marc Stein explained on the #thisleague UNCUT podcast.
“That’s why the league is trying to ascertain where the gun was before the Instagram video and all other manners of questions tied to that.”
Morant is averaging 27.1 points and 8.2 assists per game this season. He made his second consecutive All-Star Game appearance last month.
In other news, Has Ja Morant been suspended for 50 games? Debunking the viral rumor
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