Basketball

The Memphis Grizzlies put their future and title hopes in the hands of Ja Morant. With Morant suspended, so are the franchise's championship plans. The NBA has sidelined Morant for the first 25 games of the upcoming season.

PARIS (AP) — Victor Wembanyama wasn't the only young French prospect turning heads overseas. Granted, fans would have had to look much farther to find Rayan Rupert, who played for the New Zealand Breakers.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are promoting within to replace general manager Bob Myers, naming Mike Dunleavy Jr. as their new GM on Friday ahead of next week's draft.

This is not a defense of Ja Morant, whose erratic behavior certainly seems worthy of a lengthy suspension.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Jordan is finalizing a deal to sell the majority share of the Charlotte Hornets, the franchise announced Friday, leaving the 30-team NBA without any Black majority ownership.

Memphis guard Ja Morant has been suspended 25 games by the NBA — his second ban in four months — and Commissioner Adam Silver made clear Friday the star must stop his “alarming” habit of flashing guns on social media.

Ja Morant’s 25-game suspension on Friday is among the longest the NBA has handed out for behavior on or off the court.

A timeline of some of the notable of moments on and off of Ja Morant’s career from the time the Memphis Grizzlies made him the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2019 to his 25-game suspension announced Friday by the league.

In most years, Scoot Henderson would be discussed as the potential No. 1 overall NBA draft pick. Instead, the explosive point guard who bypassed college is among the top talents lined up behind generational prospect Victor Wembanyama.

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic rode atop a firetruck with people who mean the world to him — his teammate Jamal Murray, his family — and the NBA trophy.