The Grizzlies went the intervention route with Ja Morant.
The team held a players-only meeting recently, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, in which one veteran addressed the team’s road problems without citing Morant specifically.
“I’m told there was a players only meeting where Steven Adams, their veteran center, he spoke out about how the team needs to show better discipline on the road,” Charania said on FanDuel TV’s “Run it Back” on Monday. “They need to stay away from going out when they’re on the road.”
While Memphis currently sits in second in the Western Conference at 38-25, it has struggled when away from the confines of FexExForum to the tune of a 12-20 road record.
Adams may not have mentioned Morant by name, but his words were pointed enough.
“I’m told those in the room, when Steven Adams spoke out, they knew exactly who he was directing this to,” Charania reported. “It was no one other than Ja Morant.”
Morant is currently in the midst of a minimum two-game suspension imposed by the Grizzlies as troubles around the start 23-year-old mount.
Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said earlier this week that the team did not have a time table for Morant’s return.
His latest run-in — an Instagram Live video in which he flashed a gun in a nightclub — now has him under investigation by Glendale, Colo. police.
That reportedly came after Adams’ address.
“Clearly Ja Morant still went out in the early hours of Saturday,” Charania said. “That video was posted with the gun and there are questions.”
After the team announced his ban, Morant took “full responsibility” for his actions and issued an apology in a statement.
It may be a turning point for the rising NBA superstar, who has had a tumultuous season.
In January, his father, Tee Morant, was involved in a halftime altercation with Fox Sports host and ex-NFL star Shannon Sharpe.
Later that month, he and his entourage were accused of pointing a laser at members of the Indiana Pacers traveling party.
Last week, the Washington Post reported details of two incidents involving Morant and police during a four-day stretch last summer.
In the first, a mall security guard claimed Morant and his crew threatened him in a parking lot.
He was them accused of hitting a teenager during a game of pick-up basketball at his home, then brandishing a gun at the boy after.
Morant is facing a lawsuit from the teen for the altercation, in which the NBAer says was self-defense and that he was threatened.
Whether Morant heeds Adams’ words remains to be seen.