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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield were both reportedly issued warnings for an incident that took place during their teams' game at FedEx Forum Tuesday's (April 1) night, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN's Shams Charania.
The reported decision came hours after Charania had reported that the NBA was probing Morant doing a gesture mimicking shooting a gun toward the Warriors' bench.
"NBA issued warnings – no further penalties – to Grizzlies' Ja Morant and Warriors' Buddy Hield along with both teams for gestures on Tuesday night, sources tell ESPN. League ruled the celebrations were not intended to be violent in nature, but inappropriate and should refrain," Charania wrote on his X account Thursday (April 3).
The incident occurred with 20.1 seconds remaining during the Warriors' 134-125 win at FedEx Forum with Morant, 25, walking toward the Grizzlies bench, doing a gun gesture with both hands and pointing them toward the Warriors' bench, which resulted in he and Hield being issued double technical fouls. Morant, a two-time All-Star, has twice served suspensions for incidents in which he brandished a firearm on social media, the first of which occurred in March 2023 during an Instagram live stream at a suburban Denver nightclub and the second during an Instagram live stream on his friend's account in May 2023.
The Grizzlies have lost seven of their last eight games, falling to sixth in the Western Conference standings, while former head coach Taylor Jenkins was fired last Friday (March 28).