Ja Morant ready to rejoin Memphis Grizzlies as NBA suspension comes to an end | NBA News

Ja Morant’s eight-game NBA suspension is over, and the two-time All-Star guard can rejoin the Memphis Grizzlies.

Morant is expected to be on the bench Monday night when Memphis hosts Dallas, though it’s unclear exactly when he’ll return to the starting five.

The Grizzlies know he has been working out, trying to be ready for this exact moment, true to the instruction of head coach Taylor Jenkins who said he would like Morant to practice or at least participate in a shootaround before seeing game action.

“We’ll see when he gets back in the team environment,” Jenkins said Saturday night before the Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors 133-119.

“He’d probably be the first one to tell you, ‘Nothing is going to change immediately overnight. Our anticipation is he’s at least out for Monday. We’ll cross the bridge on Wednesday as we get a little bit closer.”

“I can see the image that I painted over myself with my recent mistakes,” Morant told ESPN. “But in the future, I’m going to show everybody who Ja really is, what I’m about and change this narrative that everybody has.

“I’m going to learn and grow, but I’m going to get the skills and methods to do that both personally and professionally,'”

Memphis went 5-3 without Morant, who first stepped away from the team March 4, hours after he livestreamed himself on Instagram brandishing a gun at strip club in Colorado following a game against the Denver Nuggets. Then the Grizzlies said on March 8 that Morant would be sidelined four more games.

Morant met with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in New York before the NBA announced his suspension March 15, including the first six games he had already missed.

The investigation found Morant was “holding a firearm in an intoxicated state” – but did not prove that the gun was owned by Morant “or was displayed by him beyond a brief period.”

The NBA also did not find that Morant had the gun with him on Memphis’ flight to Denver, or that he possessed the gun in any NBA facility.

Police in Colorado conducted their own investigation and concluded there was no reason to charge Morant with a crime after looking into the circumstances surrounding the video. But the strip club incident wasn’t Morant’s first embarrassing off-court decision.

The Grizzlies had been talking with Morant about his off-court conduct even before the March 4 incident. He’s challenged the issues that cost him $669,000 in salary and possibly a chance to max out the five-year contract he signed last July by going to counselling.

On the court, the Grizzlies are pleased with the growth of the 23-year-old Morant. After Memphis selected him with the No. 2 draft pick in 2019, he was named the 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year and last year earned NBA Most Improved Player honors.

He rejoins a Memphis team in the middle of a competitive postseason race. The Grizzlies, who were second in the Western Conference before the March 4 incident, are tied with Sacramento – four games back of West-leading Denver with 12 games remaining.

The coach knows Morant will be “chomping at the bit” to rejoin his teammates, but the Grizzlies have a plan ready for his return. Jenkins said it all starts with what’s in Morant’s head and in his heart.

“He’s doing a really good job recognising the improvements he’s making,” the coach said, “and that he has to continue to make.”