Some people weren’t pleased with ESPN’s Malika Andrews for pressing NBA commissioner Adam Silver about troubled Grizzlies star Ja Morant, who appeared to brandish a firearm in an Instagram Live video on Saturday.
During ESPN’s coverage of the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday, Andrews asked Silver about his previous conversation with Morant — who filmed himself with a gun at a strip club in a separate social media video on March 4 — and what he said to the embattled point guard, 23, about how much more severe the punishment could be if a similar incident occurred again.
“Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,” Silver told Andrews of the latest incident involving Morant.
“We’re in the process of investigating it and we’ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video’s a bit grainy and all that, but I’m assuming the worst. We’ll figure out exactly what happened there.”
Although Andrews was simply doing her job of covering recent events in the league, some viewers took to Twitter to criticize the exchange.
In fact, one user said the host of “NBA Today” was exuding “endless negativity.”
Another claimed “people are upset” because Andrews asked Silver about the matter before the commissioner publicly addressed it.
Others believed Andrews was too harsh in her delivery when speaking on Morant’s situation.
Elsewhere on the platform, many defended Andrews and commended the 28-year-old for her journalistic integrity.
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Morant has been suspended from all team activities by the Grizzlies in the wake of this weekend’s incident.
It came less than three months after he was seen with a gun in an Instagram Live while in a Denver-area strip club.
Morant offered his first comments on the second video on Tuesday.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant said in a statement, via ESPN. “This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do.
“My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself.”
Morant could be facing a lengthy suspension, according to multiple reports.
“He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that,” Silver said Tuesday. “And also the acknowledgment that he’s a star. He has an incredibly huge following.
“And my concern — and I thought he shared with me — that millions if not tens of millions of kids globally would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in that fashion.”
Morant previously flew to New York to meet with Silver following the first gun incident, which resulted in an eight-game suspension without pay.
Morant attended a short counseling program in Florida in March and was reinstated shortly after.
He signed a five-year rookie maximum extension with the Grizzlies worth up to $231 million in 2022.
