JJ Redick questions severity of Ja Morant's consequences after brandishing gun

JJ Redick believes there's a double standard for how Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant is being treated after he brandished a gun in a second Instagram Live video.

The NBA analyst and NBA player spoke on ESPN's "First Take" Wednesday as speculation swirled that Morant would receive a half-season suspension for the act. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said ahead of the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday that he was "shocked" by the second video. On Sunday, the Grizzlies suspended Morant "from all team activities pending League review."

Besides waving a gun in a video at a Denver strip club in March, Morant also was investigated for an alleged altercation between his friends and members of the Indiana Pacers. He was suspended for the first gun incident and missed nine games, during which he attended counseling.

"As far as we know, all of these things have been investigated and no law has been broken," Redick said. "I'm not condoning the behavior. I'm not saying there should be no punishment. There should be. There should be consequences. You are the face of the league. You are representing the NBA. You are a role model to young kids. All of that. I don't think half a season is the right answer."

Redick called out politicians who shamelessly flaunt their guns. Tennessee representative Andy Ogles sent out a Christmas card with his family standing in front of a Christmas tree while holding assault rifles. He came under criticism after three children and three adults died in the Covenant School shooting. Texas governor Greg Abbott has pushed back against gun regulation even as his state has experienced mass shootings in Uvalde and Allen.

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"You talk about consequences, look, in our country right now, gun culture is pervasive," Redick continued. "It's pervasive. We've got mass shooting after mass shooting and nobody's doing a damn thing about it. So I get why we're so sensitive to this right now. But there's no consequence for Greg Abbott telling his constituents that they should go buy more guns and then we have mass shooting after mass shooting in Texas. There's no consequence for an elected Tennessee official to send out a Christmas card holding AR-15s with his young family. And then there's a shooting in his very district. There's no consequences to that."

Redick became more and more emotional as he continued sharing his thoughts.

"So why are we trying to lay down the hammer on a 23-year-old who didn't break a law?" Redick said, slamming the table with each word. "Explain that to me!"

Ja Morant and the NBA's Code of Conduct on guns

Although Morant didn't break a law by showing the gun in the videos as Tennessee is a permitless carry state, the NBA does have guidelines on firearm possession in its Code of Conduct. NBA players are supposed to inform their team if they do own a firearm. Section 6.9 states: "Whenever a player is physically present at a facility or venue owned, operated, or being used by a Team, the NBA, or any League-related entity, and whenever a player is traveling on any NBA-related business, whether on behalf of the player’s Team, the NBA, or any League-related entity, such player shall not possess a firearm of any kind or any other deadly weapon."

While Morant was in the privacy of a car during the second video, it could be argued that his presence on social media is a representation of his employer, the NBA.

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"Any violation of Section 9(a) or Section 9(b) above shall be considered conduct prejudicial to the NBA under Article 35(d) of the NBA Constitution and By-Laws, and shall therefore subject the player to discipline by the NBA in accordance with such Article," the Code of Conduct says.

Amid the news of Morant's suspension, New York Jets defensive rookie of the year Sauce Gardner appeared to post a tweet expressing the responsibility of how professional athletes conduct themselves.

"Everybody have guns bro. No need to post it," he said in a since-deleted tweet.

USA TODAY's Mike Freeman further examined the context of Morant's actions as a representative of the NBA in a country where guns are prevalent.

"Morant is wrong, but he likely looks around, sees a nation immersed up to Uncle Sam's brim in guns, and people in Congress doing exactly what he did (and worse), and wonders: why is so much attention on me?" he wrote. "The answer is because he's a star, in a league full of them, who mostly do the right thing. You also can't have a sports league tolerate this kind of behavior, even if the rest of the country does."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: JJ Redick questions severity of Ja Morant's consequences