Grizzlies Star Ja Morant to Miss Rest of Season?

The Grizzlies could be without star point guard Ja Morant for the rest of the season, ESPN’s Marc Spears suggested on The Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst.

“I think there’s a lot going on,” Spears said, via Paolo Songco of ClutchPoints. “My prayers to him, that he figures it out. There’s things I’m hearing that I’d rather probably not say on this podcast, but I hope he’s taking care of himself. I’m not really worried about the basketball part for him right now. I’m worried about the human part.

“… My guess now is — not that you’d bet on this — that he doesn’t play the rest of the season as he takes care of himself.”

Morant has been away from the team for five games and per Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon of ESPN, has been staying in Florida and undergoing counseling.

He was accompanied by a team security officer and has stayed in touch with teammates via text and FaceTime since leaving the Grizzlies, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

Police in Glendale, Colo., where the incident took place, said that Morant will not be charged with a crime.

Morant, 23, is averaging 27.1 points, 8.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds, shooting 46 percent from the field in 53 games this season.

The NBA is investigating the nightclub incident. If it determines he had a gun on the team plane or in the locker room he could be suspended, Vardon noted.

“His spirit has been great so far when I have spoken to him,” point guard Tyus Jones told MacMahon. “It’s a unique time. There comes times in life when you’ve got to put yourself first before your family, before basketball, before a lot of other stuff, and I don’t know if a lot of guys have ever done that. It’s a time where he’s getting to put himself first, and I think he’s taken advantage of that. I hope he’s taking advantage of that, and it will be good for him.”