Ja Morant is once again making headlines for the wrong reasons.

Ja Morant is once again being criticized and thrown under the microscope by the NBA community for what he did in the Memphis Grizzlies’ recent victory. Since returning from his 25-game suspension for flashing a gun at a camera, Morant has led the Grizzlies to a 4-0 record, including a win in overtime over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.

Morant finished the game with 31 points and capped off the night with a game-sealing alley-oop dunk. It was what happened during the young All-Star’s celebration that has many talking about him today. After shouting and throwing his arms up towards the crowd, Morant appeared to point his fingers and “pull the trigger” as if there was a firearm in his hands.

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Given that he just served a massive suspension for gun problems, this was not a good look for the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week or the Grizzlies whatsoever. Even if this was not his intention, Morant’s recent problems off the court with guns has resulted in everyone assuming that he was making a gun reference with his celebration.

However, this does not seem to be the case at all.

Aftermath of Morant’s celebration

Morant was simply mimicking a popular dance in New Orleans deemed “rock ya hips.” After Tuesday night’s game, Morant even took to social media to refute all the claims that he was making a gun gesture with his hands, stating “you gotta rock ya hips” with the laughing emoji.

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The Pelicans and Grizzlies have long been enemies of one another and this seems to be a new rivalry brewing in the Western Conference given all the connections these two organizations share. Aside from being young teams on the rise, Morant will forever be linked to New Orleans, especially since they drafted Zion Williamson first overall ahead of him in the 2019 NBA Draft. Morant went second overall to Memphis.

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Morant’s celebration was obviously taken out of context, but this is to be expected as a result of the turmoil the Grizzlies star has faced with his off the court antics. Former NBA forward Chandler Parson shared his thoughts on Morant’s celebration recently, claiming that the young guard needs to be more cognizant of the situation given the circumstances he faced this last year.

“It’s so shocking that we are even talking about him doing possibly the slightest thing gun-related at this point. You can see, he almost catches himself and then he kind of turns to something else,” Parsons said on FanDuel’s Run It Back. “It’s ridiculous, but again, you gotta grow up. Why are we talking about this? Your team is 4-0, you have been unbelievable, you’ve now been probably forgiven to a certain point… 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.”

While Morant obviously did not mean for his celebration to be out of context, every little thing he does will be examined and critiqued by NBA fans as a result of what happened with his gun incidents. Other than his social media post, Morant has not commented on the matter, nor have the Grizzlies.