NBA Commissioner expects to meet with Memphis star Ja Morant before his highly-awaited return

Ja Morant‘s 25-game suspension is finally coming to an end next week, as confirmed by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who revealed this weekend in Las Vegas that he will meet with the Memphis star before this happens. 

The two-time All-Star was suspended back in June after an investigation ensued as the player appeared in a second incident flashing a firearm on social media.

“I have been monitoring the situation closely, and him,” Silver said on Saturday. “In fact, we intend to have a check-in this week directly, Ja and I. But folks in the league office, together with Ja and his team and the players association, have been in regular contact essentially weekly.”

Adam Silver says he’s meeting with Ja Morant next week to make sure everything is good to go for him to come back from his 25 game suspension #nba pic.twitter.com/t8lLeifA3L

— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) December 10, 2023

“They’re having those checkpoints. We, together, laid out a program for him over the last several weeks, and to the best of my knowledge, he’s complied with everything he’s been asked to do,” he explained. “As I said, we’re gonna talk directly once at least this week before he comes back. I think we’ll review the program and just make sure the conditions are in place for him to be successful going forward.”

Back when the Commissioner announced the athlete’s suspension, he said that Morant would be “required to formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior” before he would return to NBA courts.

His 25-match ban is set to end for Memphis’ matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, December 18. This means, he should be eligible to play the next day against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The 24-year-old was first suspended for 8 contests back in March for posting an Instagram Live video where he displayed a gun “while in an intoxicated state at a Denver area nightclub,” according to the league.

The Grizzlies guard takes stand for punching a teenager back in 2022, says it was in self-defense

Just a week before his 25-game suspension comes to an end, Morant testified for the first time in a lawsuit that involves punching a teenager at his home on July 2022. As he took the stand this Monday in Memphis, he justified his actions saying he acted in self-defense.

During the first day of an immunity hearing at Shelby County Circuit Court, Morant admitted he “swung first” at then-17 Joshua Holloway “to protect myself”, after an altercation that led to the youngster accusing the player of assault.

“You testified that this basketball was a weapon, yes?” the Grizzlies guard was asked by Holloway’s lawyer, Rebecca Adelman. “Yes,” Morant said.

“A lethal weapon?” she kept at it. “It hurt,” the player responded.

During the cross-examination, Morant testified that during the altercation he asked Holloway “What you on?”, to what the teenager responded by pulling up his shorts. “Him pulling up his shorts, where I’m from, that’s a fighting stance,” the athlete said.