Come and Take ‘Em?: The Issue of Professional Sports and Firearms

Matthew Duke

3 years ago

Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies and Jack Jones of the New England Patriots have both run into trouble due to gun related incidents in the past month.

In March 2023, the NBA suspended Ja Morant for eight games after he brandished a gun in a nightclub on Instagram Live.[1] The NBA said Morant had recklessly displayed the gun “in an intoxicated state at a Denver area nightclub.”[2] The NBA claims that Morant made commitments to the league and public statements declaring that he would not repeat this behavior.[3] He did so in an interview with Jalen Rose, who emphasized his own off court issues and how difficult it is to be in Ja’s shoes.[4]

However, in May 2023, Morant was seen with a gun on a friend’s Instagram Live “while knowing that he was being recorded and that the recording was being livestreamed on Instagram Live.”[5] Due to the second incident, the NBA handed down an immediate suspension that Morant will serve through the first 25 games of the 2023-2024 season.[6]

After the suspension was announced, Morant reportedly sent a video to concerned friends and family members in which he lights two candles with the gun-shaped lighter.[7] The video was intended to demonstrate that the gun from the second incident was not real.[8] The video was leaked to the public, and Commissioner Adam Silver responded stating, “if you’re livestreaming something to the world that looks exactly like a gun and in a, frankly, reckless manner, should it matter whether or not it’s a real gun?”[9]

The leaked video did not change anything, and Morant will still serve the 25-game suspension at the start of next season.

Morant is not the only professional athlete to face disciplinary action on gun related issues as of late. During the evening of June 16, 2023, New England Patriots cornerback, Jack Jones, was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport for trying to bring two firearms onto a plane.[10] The firearms were found in Jones’s carry-on luggage as he went through a security checkpoint.[11]

Jones was arrested on charges of possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of an airport, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm, and possession of a large-capacity feeding device.[12]

Jones was arraigned on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.[13] He was released on $30,000 bail and is due back in court on Aug. 18, 2023.[14] The Patriots have not yet commented on the matter officially, but sources say that the team is “livid” and is likely to remove Jones from the roster soon.[15] He likely faces a minimum sentence of three and a half years if he is convicted, but the Patriots are likely to move on from Jones regardless of whether he is convicted.[16] The Patriots have made an effort to clean up these kinds of issues after the incident involving Aaron Hernandez, so it is likely this issue will result in the Patriots getting rid of Jones.[17]

In light of Jones’s arrest, Sports Illustrated looked into USA Today’s NFL arrest database and found that this marks the 17th time an NFL player has been arrested on gun charges since March, 2020.[18] Many are claiming that the NFL has a big issue that requires serious attention from the league.[19] Similar criticisms have been thrown the NBA’s way in the past, especially after the infamous incident in 2009 where Gilbert Arenas unlawfully brought guns into the locker room.[20] A database for the gun crimes of NBA players exists as well. The database does indicate that no gun crimes were committed by NBA players between February 25, 2014, and September 26, 2020.[21] This could be, in part, to the NBA starting a campaign in 2015 to end gun violence and players acting as role models who promoting that message.[22]

The criticism of NFL players is not itself without critique, however. In reviewing USA Today’s NFL arrest database, it is clear that charges were dropped in two of the cases.[23] In fact, in Ed Oliver’s case, there were no grounds for a charge at all. The only way he could have committed a crime is if he was intoxicated. The charges from May 2020, were dropped after he passed drug and alcohol screenings.[24] There was not enough evidence to pursue a case against Marcus Maye, so prosecutors dropped the charges against him stemming from a September 2022, incident.[25]

With the two cases resulting in dropped charges, the total number of incidents involving firearms since March, 2020 falls to 15. Frank Clark accounts for two of those arrests.[26] This means that there are 14 individuals who were legitimately arrested on firearm charges since March, 2020. As Twitter user @DeeksViewOG points out, “[14] out of 3,000+ players in a 3 year span isn’t a ‘big problem.’”[27]

Any number of legal issues surrounding firearms is a problem for professional sports leagues, especially when they are such a contentious issue in the US at the moment. The issues tend to get a lot of media coverage, as they are big news and they drive traffic to the outlets reporting on them. The issue then appears to be larger than the actual problem. At that, the leagues often attempt to portray their athletes as role models in their communities, and it is up to them to curb any issues they have surrounding firearms. Failure to do so can just end up hurting those who view these athletes as role models.

[1] https://www.foxnews.com/sports/nba-suspends-grizzlies-ja-morant-25-games-after-second-gun-incident-online-alarming-disconcerting

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/ja-morant-grizzlies-jalen-rose-gun-incident/s8nmezmltwjua3rjmbtjrvol

[5] Supra n.1.

[6] Id.

[7] https://www.tmz.com/2023/06/17/video-ja-morant-plays-toy-gun-after-firearm-waving-incident/

[8] Id.

[9] https://www.foxnews.com/sports/video-shows-embattled-nba-star-ja-morant-filming-himself-with-toy-gun-after-second-weapons-related-incident

[10] https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/new-england-patriots-player-jack-jones-arrested-logan-attempting-bring-2-firearms-plane/NADKMXGF7BEXFEFOADFW4CEVNE/

[11] Id.

[12] Id.