Ja Morant posts, deletes cryptic Instagram story featuring family photos amid suspension speculation

Jordan Greer

Ja Morant posts, deletes cryptic Instagram story featuring family photos amid suspension speculation image

Fans of Ja Morant were confused and alarmed on Wednesday morning after seeing the Grizzlies star's recent social media activity.

The 23-year-old shared multiple photos of his family members and a "goodbye" note on his Instagram Stories. He later deleted all of his Instagram posts.

Here are the captions that appeared alongside the photos of his sister, mother, father and daughter:

Congrats baby girl live yours

Love ya ma

Love ya pops

You da greatest baby girl love ya

Bye

A spokesperson for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office told TMZ Sports that officers did a welfare check on Morant at his Tennessee home, adding that he is "fine." Morant told the officers that he is "taking a break from social media."

MORE: Ja Morant issues apology after new Instagram Live gun video

Ja Morant's recent Instagram, Twitter activity

Morant hasn't posted on his Instagram page since May 9. He placed the caption "Year 4" on the most recent post, recapping his fourth season with the Grizzlies.

He last tweeted on May 13: "Seem to go my hardest when I'm going [through] it."

Ja Morant suspension news

Morant's posts came less than two weeks after he was seen holding a gun on an Instagram Live video. He had previously been suspended eight games during the 2022-23 season for a similar gun video that appeared online in March.

"I know I've disappointed a lot of people who have supported me. This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do," Morant said in a statement, which was released on May 16. "My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I'm committed to continuing to work on myself."

On May 14, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Morant is facing the possibility of a "lengthy" suspension to start the 2023-24 season.

"[NBA commissioner Adam Silver] has pretty wide-ranging latitude in terms of best interests of the league, conduct detrimental to the NBA, to suspend Ja Morant without pay for a significant period to start the season," Wojnarowski said.

Ahead of the NBA Draft Lottery on May 16, Silver spoke to ESPN's Malika Andrews about Morant's actions.

"Honestly, I was shocked when I saw this weekend, that video," Silver said. "We are in the process of investigating it. We'll figure out what happened to the best we can. Again, the video's a bit grainy and all that, but I'm assuming the worst.

"We'll figure out exactly what happened there."

Jordan Greer

Jordan Greer Photo

Jordan Greer has been with The Sporting News since 2015. He previously worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Syracuse University.