Was Ja Morant doing 'gun celebration' in Grizzlies' win vs Pelicans? Explaining 'Rock Ya Hips' dance

Ja Morant caught an alley-oop pass from Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart late in Tuesday's 116-115 overtime win against the New Orleans Pelicans, and then he broke out some dance moves.

Morant lifted both of his arms and shifted his hands in a motion that later went viral on social media. Some questioned whether he was mimicking celebrating with a gun — just a week after returning from a 25-game suspension for brandishing an apparent gun in an Instagram Live video for the second time in a two-month stretch.

As it turns out, that wasn't exactly the case. Morant was doing the "Rock Ya Hips" dance that has been popularized in New Orleans by influencers Subtweet Shawn and T99zy.

"It was not a gun celebration; He was doing the Rock Ya Hips Dance," Subtweet Shawn said in a video sent to The Commercial Appeal. " . . . That was a dance synonymous with New Orleans. He did it on a New Orleans team."

Explaining the 'Rock Ya Hips' dance

New Orleans influencers Subtweet Shawn and T99zy first posted the dance on social media in late July after creating a song to go with it. The initial video generated more than 300,000 views on TikTok, and several other remakes have eclipsed that number.

The dance had spread throughout the sports world. LSU football wide receivers Malik Nabers and Kyren Lacy helped popularize the dance with their end zone celebrations. NFL players Tee Higgins and George Pickens also recently did the dance, and the Kansas State basketball team has done the dance in the tunnel before games.

The dance includes a dip and side-to-side rock while stretching the arms and hands out before shaking them to the beat. Pickens, Higgins and Nabers are among the players who have done the similar hand gesture as Morant did.

Ja Morant celebration comes after suspension, viral gun videos

Morant's 25-game suspension put him under a microscope where most of his movements are closely monitored. In an effort to clarify the meaning of his dance, Morant posted "Rock Ya Hips" on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. However, some former NBA players still didn't like the celebration because part of the dance could be mistaken for a trigger-like motion.

"What else has to happen for you, and your family and your friends, to learn? Make this about basketball, make this about your life, make this about your livelihood, and stop doing things like this," former Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons said on the "Run it Back" show Wednesday.

"The NBA is watching, don't do anything, that got anything, with any kind of arms, my brother. Stop it," former NBA player Lou Williams added.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Explaining Ja Morant's viral celebration and whether it involved a gun