Ja Morant and Buddy Hield received warnings from the NBA for mimicking shooting gestures during Tuesday’s game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors, league sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The NBA determined that while the celebrations were not intended to be violent, they were inappropriate. Both teams were also issued warnings following the incident, which occurred with 20.1 seconds remaining in Golden State’s 134-125 victory in Memphis.
Morant formed imaginary guns with his fingers and pointed them toward the Warriors bench while walking to the Grizzlies sideline after a timeout was called. Hield made a similar gesture from the Warriors bench just before the timeout. The referees assessed double technical fouls to both players at the time.
This marks Morant’s third incident involving gun-related behavior. The two-time All-Star previously served an eight-game suspension in March 2023 after brandishing a firearm on Instagram Live from a Denver nightclub. He was subsequently suspended for the first 25 games of the 2023-24 season after another social media incident involving a firearm in May 2023.
