Memphis Grizzlies rookie sensation Ja Morant has backtracked on an earlier tweet that has garnered some controversy.

The 20-year-old has sent out an apology for posting an image of himself wearing a jersey with an NSFW message directed for the police. Morant took to Twitter to issue his public apology and to explain the message he was trying to convey:

Below is a screengrab of Ja Morant's original tweet which has now been deleted:

For context, the NBA and NBPA earlier announced that they were in talks with Nike to allow players to customize the names on the back of their jerseys as a way to support the Black Lives movement. Morant was obviously joking around when he posted the photo, which loosely translates to “f–k the police,” with the number “12” used as a common reference for the cops. However, Morant's jest was in bad taste, and he was criticized, thus prompting the apology for the same.

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Needless to say, the NBA would not have allowed such profanity on his jersey, so clearly, Morant was not being serious here. Then again, this does not excuse him from this rather irresponsible act.

The NBA and NBPA started this initiative as one way to address the growing concern about the NBA restart posing as a distraction from the more important social issues the nation is facing today. Nevertheless, they will surely be strictly monitoring what players will put on their respective shirts, and profanity, for one, will definitely not be allowed.