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The Grizzlies suspended Morant from all team
activities on Sunday, roughly two months after a similar
incident that saw him suspended for eight games when he appeared
in a live-streaming video on Instagram holding a firearm at a
nightclub.
"I know I've disappointed a lot of people who have supported me.
This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do,"
Morant said in a statement published by ESPN and USA Today.
"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."
Reuters has reached out to his agency for comment.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said they were investigating the
incident, admitting he was "shocked" when he saw the video after
Morant had seemed to take the first suspension "incredibly
seriously" when they spoke.
"We spoke for a long time about not just the consequences that
could have on his career but the safety issues around it. He
could have injured, maimed, killed himself or someone else with
an act like that," Silver said at NBA's draft lottery.
"He has an incredibly huge following. My concern, and I thought
he shared with me, that 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.
"Now, we're in the process of investigating it and we'll figure
out exactly what happened to the best we can. The video is a bit
grainy and all that, but I'm assuming the worst."
Another suspension would see Morant miss the start of the
2023-24 season, with the Grizzlies no longer in the playoffs
after they were knocked out by the Los Angeles Lakers last
month.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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