Ja Morant says he’ll stay off social media

The Memphis Grizzlies’ star point guard is making his way back on the court after an eight-game suspension. Ja Morant got into this position by posting an Instagram Live video in which he was holding a gun and the people around him were drinking alcohol.

Morant working on becoming better person

Morant missed the game against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, but practiced with the team on Tuesday and is available to play with the team again on Wednesday when the Grizzlies play the Houston Rockets. One of the questions he was asked upon his return was if he would be posting his thoughts on social media, to which he said he would be much less active. He had deactivated his Instagram and Twitter accounts while he was away, but recently reactivated them.

“I won’t be doing that at all, be saying things,” said Morant. “Actions speak louder than words…now, for me, it’s just…continuing to go through my process of becoming a better me. If I do that, not only would it help me, but it’ll help everybody around me.”

Morant spent his days away (11 total) in a Florida counseling facility. He said he took the time away to work on getting into a better mental space as he has been under a lot of stress.

“Obviously, I’ve been there for two weeks, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely better,” he said. “So that’s an ongoing process for me that I’ve still been continuing since I’ve come out.”

He apologized for creating “negative attention” around his family, team, and the Grizzlies organization and said he’s working on being more responsible. He insisted he doesn’t have an alcohol problem after he was questioned about whether or not being intoxicated played a role in his decisions.

“I didn’t go there for alcohol. I went there for counseling,” he said. “To learn how to manage stress and cope with stress in a positive way, instead of ways how I tried to deal with it before that caused me to make mistakes.”

Morant admitted he’s nervous about the reactions from fans when he returns to the court. He took responsibility for his mistakes and for hurting those around him, but emphasized that he’s been going through things that the majority of people don’t realize.

“Like I said, it not only affected me, but it affected everyone around me - my family, this organization, my teammates...and caused me not to be out there on the floor,” said Morant. “One thing I love to do the most is play basketball. So it’s a lot, but like I said before, it’s an ongoing process with everything I’ve been doing the past two weeks, and I’m going to continue to do that to get through everything I need to be healthy.”