It is not ridiculous to say that one of Ja Morant's professional goals should be trying to end his association with firearms. Whether or not you agree that an NBA player should be suspended multiple times for being eager to show people his gun, it cannot be denied that this man's affinity for guns has had negative consequences on his career. "Stop being the gun guy" perhaps does not belong at the very top of a list of Morant's aspirations, but it shouldn't be at the bottom, either.
The NBA is hoping a $75,000 fine will encourage Morant to find something other than guns to be interested in. Morant was hit with that fine this morning because during Thursday night's nationally televised game against the Heat—which Morant won at the buzzer—he celebrated a made three-pointer by pretending to shoot a gun. This is objectively a strange thing for a player to be fined for; NBA players pretend to shoot stuff after hitting a big shot every night, and this is something that Morant had done several times already throughout the season. The reason he got fined today is that he also did the gun gesture during Tuesday's game against the Warriors, to the great annoyance of Steph Curry, and the NBA warned him to knock it off.
Putting aside questions about whether it makes sense for the NBA to fine a player for performing a common albeit risqué celebration, Morant went into last night's game knowing that the league would come down on him if he did the gun thing. The fact that he just went ahead and did it anyway confirms that there is one thing that remains 100 percent true about Ja Morant: This guy really loves guns. He loves them more than having $75,000 and playing full NBA seasons.
