Fox News Flash top sports headlines for March 21
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Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said the expectation is for Ja Morant to play on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets.
Morant was handed an eight-game suspension for "conduct detrimental to the league" following an investigation into the video of Morant appearing to display a gun at a nightclub in Colorado.
The league said the suspension came in response to Morant’s video in which he is "holding a firearm in an intoxicated state while visiting a Denver area nightclub."
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Grizzlies guard Ja Morant goes up for a dunk against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 8, 2022, in Memphis. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
Morant last played on March 3 in Denver, hours before the Instagram Live post, missing the Grizzlies' last nine contests.
"We anticipate him playing tomorrow," Jenkins told reporters on Tuesday.
Shortly after the video, Morant checked into a counseling program to "work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being."
The Grizzlies superstar said the gun was not his but took "full responsibility" for his actions.
"It's not who I am. I don't condone any type of violence, but I take full responsibility for my actions," Morant said. "I made a bad mistake, and I can see the image that I painted over myself with my recent mistakes, but in the future, I'm going to show everybody who Ja really is, what I'm about and change this narrative."
Grizzlies guard Ja Morant reacts during the first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 19, 2022, in Memphis. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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But the video came after a slew of incidents involving troubling behavior. It was revealed shortly before the nightclub incident that Morant was involved in a physical altercation with a teenager at his Memphis home during a game of pickup basketball. Morant flashed a gun in that incident as well, claiming he acted in self-defense and that the teenager said he would "blow [his house] up like fireworks."
Last month, the Indiana Pacers claimed that after an altercation between associates of Morant and the Pacers, a red laser was pointed at the team from an SUV that was carrying Morant, which the Pacers believed was a gun.
The NBA investigated the incident and found that no "individual threatened others with a weapon."
Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies reacts during the 76ers game at Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 23, 2023, in Philadelphia. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
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Memphis went 3-3 in Morant's first six missed games, but have won their last three.