Ja Morant posts cryptic messages to family on Instagram
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant appeared to have posted a series of cryptic messages to his Instagram Story Wednesday morning that have since been deleted.
Screengrabs of the messages from Morant’s Instagram account, which has 9.6 million followers, show him sending messages to his sister, mom, dad and daughter before a final post said “bye.”
The apparent posts came 11 days after Morant, 23, was filmed on an Instagram Live video holding a gun in a car, more than two months after he filmed himself on Instagram Live holding a gun at the Shotgun Willie’s strip club in Glendale, Colo.
The first post Wednesday was a message to his sister Teniya, who recently committed to play basketball at Mississippi Valley State.
“Congrats babygirl 💙 live yours,” Morant wrote above a picture of his sister.
Morant then posted a photo of his mom Jamie watching him practice, writing, “love ya ma 💙.”
Another photo showed Morant hugging his dad Tee.
“Love ya pops 💙,” Morant wrote with the photo.
Morant also posted a photo of himself on the court with his young daughter Kaari, writing, “you da greatest babygirl 💙 love ya.”
The final photo was of Morant getting interviewed on the court, on which he wrote, “bye.”
All of the messages have since been deleted.
After the second gun video, the Grizzlies suspended Morant from all team activities and the NBA said it was investigating the incident.
Morant was suspended eight games for the first gun video, and during his time away from the team he attended a brief counseling program in Florida.
Last Tuesday during the ESPN broadcast of the NBA Draft Lottery, league commissioner Adam Silver told Malika Andrews that he was “shocked” by the second video.
“We’re in the process of investigating it and we’ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can,” Silver said. “The video’s a bit grainy and all that, but I’m assuming the worst. We’ll figure out exactly what happened there.”
Morant released a statement about the latest video to ESPN last Tuesday.
“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” Morant said. “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.”
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