Memphis Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant has been suspended one game by the team for “conduct detrimental to the team,” the organization announced on Saturday afternoon.
This suspension for Morant comes not even 24 hours after the Grizzlies' NBA Cup loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, a game in which they lost by five points at home after leading by as many as 15 points.
After the game, Morant was visibly frustrated and did not hold back on the Grizzlies' coaching staff in his postgame comments.
“Go ask the coaching staff,” Morant told reporters when asked what went wrong for him on Friday night. “They had a whole spill in here.”
When asked about his lack of energy in the game, specifically during the second half against Los Angeles, Morant again told reporters to go ask head coach Tuomas Iisalo why that was.
Morant continued to answer questions from reporters by telling them to ask the coaching staff until he was asked the question of what he could have done differently outside of the coaches' control. The star point guard made it very clear in his answer that he was not pleased with the Grizzlies' coaching staff.
“According to them, probably don't play me, honestly. That's what basically the message was. So… it's cool. It's cool.”
In the locker room after the game, before media members were allowed in, Iisalo challenged Morant's leadership and effort, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. This led to a response from Morant that was deemed inappropriate.
As a result of this one-game suspension, Morant will lose $272,042, which is about 1/145 of his $39,446,090 salary, according to ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks.
Morant, who is in his seventh season with the Grizzlies, has been suspended several times before.
After being suspended by the league for eight games during the 2022-23 season for conduct detrimental to the league for flashing a gun during a livestream video in a Denver nightclub, Morant was suspended a second time for 25 games in June 2023 for the same offense.
Between his suspensions and missed time due to injury, Morant has only played in about 65 percent of the Grizzlies' total games since he was drafted second overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
What the future holds for Morant is very much unknown at this time, as his relationship with Iisalo and the Grizzlies' new coaching staff has been shaky. Morant held a strong bond with Taylor Jenkins, Memphis' previous head coach, which is why many are beginning to wonder if this one-game suspension at the start of the 2025-26 season could be the breaking point in the star's relationship with the team.
Morant has two more years left on his $197.2 million contract and won't become an unrestricted free agent until 2028.
The Grizzlies have provided no further comment on Morant, and he will miss Sunday night's game on the road against the Toronto Raptors.
