Ja Morant’s hand grenade celebration didn’t sit well with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith during the Grizzles-Timberwolves game Thursday.
The Memphis guard adopted the on-court gesture after he was fined $75,000 by the NBA last Friday for his previous finger guns celebration.
After hitting a 3-pointer in first quarter, Morant celebrated by gesturing a grenade toss and mimicked the process of pulling a pin from an explosive weapon before while looking up at the crowd at FedExForum in Memphis during the 141-125 loss to the Timberwolves.
While discussing the game during TNT’s “Inside the NBA” halftime show, Barkley seemed disgusted while Smith sent a message to 25-year-old Morant.
“He has a history that maybe he shouldn’t be doing … leave the celebrations where people might die alone,” Smith said, referring to Morant being suspended twice for brandishing firearms in social media videos.
Barkley brought up former Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins, who was shockingly fired last month, just nine games before the playoffs were set to begin.
“I know one person’s happy right now … Taylor Jenkins ain’t got to deal with this crap,” Barkley said.
Jenkins, who signed a multi-year extension with Memphis in 2022, had been with the team since 2019 and was the Grizzlies’ winningest coach.
“He knows what he’s doing, because y’all gonna keep talking about it,” Shaquille O’Neal added. “Pull that pin.”
Morant, who is Memphis’ leading scorer, covered his ears after pretending to toss it.
“That’s my celebration now until somebody else has a problem with it, and I’ll find another one,” Morant said after Thursday’s shootaround.
Morant debuted his grenade celebration during the Grizzles’ 124-100 win over the Hornets on Tuesday.
The two-time All-Star made headlines after he mimicked an imaginary gun after making 3-pointers during contests against the Heat and Warriors.
Morant was fined for repeating the gesture after he received a warning from the league, which called it “inappropriate” and “a gesture that could be interpreted in a negative light.”
Morant isn’t the only NBA player that used finger gun celebrations, though.
In 2023, Morant was suspended twice for two separate incidents with actual guns.
The first penalty was an eight-game ban for appearing in a live stream video in which he displayed a firearm while in intoxicated at a Denver-area nightclub.
The second was a 25-game ban after Morant posed with a firearm in a car during another live stream video.
A Western Conference showdown between the No. 7 Grizzlies (47-33) and the No. 4 Nuggets (48-32), who fired their head coach Michael Malone this week, is taking place Friday in Denver.
Both teams are fighting for playoffs positions, with six teams having between 31-33 losses.
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