LeBron James shows wannabe gangster Ja Morant that a gun doesn’t make you great

W e all make mistakes. Last week I burned more than a thousand words celebrating the Memphis Grizzlies for taking up the NBA’s tough-guy mantle, never thinking their star player would carry the notion so far over the line.

Tuesday’s regular-season series finale against the Los Angeles Lakers will mark the second game the Grizzlies won’t be able to call on their All-Star guard, Ja Morant. The truly frustrating part: he isn’t sitting out with an injury; no, Morant is unavailable because he plays too much on the internet.

Early on Saturday morning, social media was jolted by the sight of Morant live streaming himself from a Colorado stripclub hours after a tough loss to the Denver Nuggets, the team just ahead of the Grizzlies in the Western Conference standings. On his Instagram feed, Morant appears shirtless, dancing and singing along to the NBA YoungBoy rap song Bring ‘Em Out, before flashing a pistol to the camera. Whether the gun was real is not yet known, and police are investigating the incident. Either way, the Grizzlies weren’t having it.

Grizzlies star Ja Morant was allegedly seen showing off a gun on his IG Live this morning.pic.twitter.com/HlhvoWlnYy

Immediately, they announced Morant would step away from the team for at least two games. After another Grizzlies loss on Sunday, this time to the mediocre Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said there is no timetable for Morant’s return. Jenkins wouldn’t volunteer the steps Morant needs to take toward making amends, either. This was after Morant’s agent, Jim Tanner, issued a statement on his client’s behalf in which Morant took “full responsibility.”

This is just the latest in a series of troubling incidents involving Morant that have become public