Of everyone Ja Morant disappointed, one person matters more than the rest | Giannotto

Adam Silver said he was shocked. He sounded like a duped school teacher, equal parts hurt and betrayed. He looked incredulous, even two days later.

So the NBA commissioner was like a lot of us, ever since we woke up on Mother’s Day to see another video of Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant flashing a gun on social media.

“I am assuming the worst,” Silver told ESPN’s Malika Andrews in an interview ahead of the NBA Draft lottery Tuesday night.

It felt like a warning for what’s about to come.

Because, for the sake of this metaphor, Silver is also the principal. He’s the one in charge of doling out a punishment, and that’s perhaps being overlooked in the wide-ranging conversation that Morant’s latest misstep evoked.

You can make this a gun issue. You can make this a Second Amendment issue. You can make this a race issue. You can even make it a labor issue. Some come off as a false equivalency and some can be explored in a compelling way through the prism of that gun-toting Instagram Live video featuring Morant.

He was not charged with a crime during any of his embarrassing off-court decisions of the past year, but he’s signed to a contract that falls under the umbrella of the NBA’s conduct detrimental to the team clause. This is murky territory, if only because we’ve not seen any high-profile athletes before Morant brandish a gun on social media – let alone twice in a 10-week span.

Those actions put him, certainly unintentionally, at the crossroads of cultural and athletic punditry, with discussions about his self-destructive and immature behavior leading to broad societal debates on everything from ESPN’s “First Take” to CNN to “The Today Show.”

But distill this to its core, and this is really about two men now – Morant and Silver.

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It’s about Silver’s reaction to seeing Morant brandishing a gun so soon after he was first reprimanded. It’s about what was said when they met at the NBA’s offices in New York in March, when Silver ultimately handed out an 8-game suspension for Morant’s first gun-related Instagram foray from within a Denver area strip club.

It’s about how the wealthy men who employ Silver (the NBA’s owners) and the wealthy men he oversees (the NBA players) view these circumstances. It’s about whether Silver is angry or just deflated. It’s about whether he believes he must make an example of Morant, for Morant’s sake but also for the sake of his image as commissioner.

Silver’s initial comments weren’t exactly promising as far as Morant’s status for the start of next season. They indicated that there was a level of trust during that first meeting in March. That Morant understood he had done wrong and the subsequent changes he had to incorporate into his lifestyle.

“Frankly, most of our conversation was about how incredibly serious the first incident was of waving a firearm on social media,” Silver said to Andrews.  “Again, the consequences there, an eight-game suspension was pretty serious and something that he, at least to me, seemed to take incredibly seriously at that time.”

A lot is already being made of what Silver said later – “I’m assuming the worst.” The implication being that Grizzlies fans should assume the worst (and they probably should at this point). But those words were simply in reference to the discovery of a second video.

Silver is assuming it will be authenticated once the NBA’s investigation is complete, as unbelievable as it is to consider Morant would do basically the exact same thing that got him in trouble the first time when his offseason was barely two weeks old.

It’s the part in which Silver mentions the gravity of the 8-game suspension that should really make ears perk up. The implication being that this next suspension will be longer.

Maybe much longer.

The players’ union could get involved with an appeal. Or maybe it doesn’t want to take up the cause of a player who couldn’t resist the urge to flash his gun on social media.

Morant sounded resigned to that in his first comments since the weekend.

“I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,” he said in a statement. “This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I’m committed to continuing to work on myself.”

It sounded like something you might say in the principal’s office because, of all the people Morant disappointed, Silver is the one who matters most of all.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: NBA's Adam Silver controls Ja Morant's fate in latest gun incident