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Although Ja Morant will miss the first 25 games of the season while serving his suspension, the Memphis Grizzlies star will be allowed to travel with the team and participate fully in practice.
Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman confirmed Monday during the team’s media day that Morant — who was suspended 25 games for conduct detrimental to the league after displaying a handgun on multiple Instagram Live videos last season — won’t have to be away from the team until he can return.
"I think it's great for Ja, and I think it's great for the group that he can be with us day-to-day," Kleiman said, via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. "The NBA basically has said that as long as Ja continues to stay on track, he's going to be clear to participate in all private team activities, so practices, shootarounds, traveling with the team. He's not going to be with us, obviously, for preseason games and the first 25, but we'll see him out there and we can't wait to have him back Game 26."
Morant was involved in several troubling incidents last season. He went live on Instagram in March from a Colorado nightclub hours after the team's game against the Nuggets and flashed what appeared to be a gun. He was not charged with a crime. He then flashed a handgun in a vehicle again in May, and the league suspended him 25 games. NBA commissioner Adam Silver cited gun violence when speaking earlier this summer about the reason for the length of the suspension.
Besides the gun incidents, Morant’s entourage allegedly threatened Indiana Pacers staff members after a contentious game between the two teams in Memphis last season. Staff members claimed that someone riding in Morant’s slow-moving SUV aimed a red laser at them, which they thought was attached to a gun. Morant also allegedly assaulted a teenager and threatened him with a gun during a pickup game at his house last summer, and he allegedly threatened the head of security at a Memphis mall.
Morant did not participate in the Grizzlies’ media day Monday, and Kleiman declined to get into specifics regarding his progress this offseason and how the team plans to work with Morant during the season. Kleiman simply said Morant has “been putting in great work and I think taking a lot of steps in the right direction.”
"We're going to continue to give him the structure to be able to follow through on that,” Kleiman said, via ESPN.
Morant averaged 26.2 points, 8.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds last season, his fourth with the Grizzlies. The 24-year-old is entering the first year of a five-year, $197 million deal with the team.
The Grizzlies open the season Oct. 25 against the New Orleans Pelicans. Morant will be allowed to return for the Grizzlies’ game against the Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 23.
"We've got a separate plan designed for him outside just the team training where we're going to push him," Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said, via ESPN. "He's excited about it and how we can challenge him even more, when we talk about being the best version of Ja moving forward."
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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