The National Basketball Players Association is unhappy with the length of the suspension handed down to Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. On Friday, the NBA suspended Morant for 25 games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league. The suspension comes as a result of Morant's second incident involving holding a gun in a social media video. Morant will also have to meet other conditions before he can return to the court.
In a statement, the NBPA called the suspension "excessive" and said that the punishment isn't consistent with past discipline handed down by the league. Here's the full statement:
"Ja has expressed his remorse and accepted responsibility for his actions, and we support him unequivocally as he does whatever is necessary to represent himself, our players and our league in the best possible light. As to the discipline imposed, which keeps him off the court until December and requires some unstated conditions to be met before he can return, we believe it is excessive and inappropriate for a number of reasons including the facts involved in this particular incident, and that it is not fair and consistent with past discipline in our league. We will explore with Ja all options and next steps."
Technically, Morant does have options to ponder, as the star guard has 30 days to challenge the suspension by filing a grievance with the league office. At that point, an arbitrator would be brought in to determine if the suspension should stand or be reduced.
Shortly after the suspension was announced, Morant released a statement apologizing for his actions and vowing to be better.
"I've had time to reflect and I realize how much hurt I've caused," Morant said in the statement. "I want to apologize to the NBA, the Grizzlies, my teammates and the city of Memphis. To Adam Silver, Zach Kleiman and Robert Pera -- who gave me the opportunity to be a professional athlete and have supported me -- I'm sorry for the harm I've done. To the kids who look up to me, I'm sorry for failing you as a role model. I promise I'm going to be better. To all of my sponsors, I'm going to be a better representation of our brands. And to all of my fans, I'm going to make it up to you, I promise.
"I'm spending the offseason and my suspension continuing to work on my own mental health and decision making. I'm also going to be training so that I'm ready to go when I can be back on the court. I know my teammates are going to hold it down and I'm so sorry I won't be out there with you at the beginning of the season. I hope you'll give me the chance to prove to you over time I'm a better man than what I've been showing you."
The ball is now in Morant's court, as he can choose to either challenge or accept the suspension. Moving forward, the hope is that he is able to make the improvements in his personal life that he spoke about in his statement.