Ja Morant insists his grenade-throwing celebration is not what you think it is

Ja Morant has switched from guns to what he claims are not grenades for his in-game celebrations. 

While it certainly looks like he’s miming pulling the pin of a grenade and throwing it into the crowd, Morant has shut that idea down.

“Listen, it’s not what you think it is. I’m taking my words, and I’m throwing them out there. I’m speaking Ja. I’m being Ja,” Morant said following the Grizzlies’ loss to the Timberwolves on Thursday night.

“I’m going to take my words, I’m going to throw them out there and then I’m going to block out the noise. And that’s what I’m doing,” he continued. “So when you see me do that, that’s what I’m doing. I’m saying what I got to say to the world, and I’m blocking out the noise in the midst of what’s coming back my way. And that’s how it’s going to be.”

Following what looked like the grenade toss, Morant covered his ears with both hands, seemingly backing up his claims that he was just “going to block out the noise.”

But in the same game, Morant was also seen doing a celebration that looked an awful lot like someone firing a machine gun.

This all follows an extensive history of Morant and guns, as he was fined $75,000 just a week ago for his finger-gun celebrations. 

Before that in 2023, Morant served two separate suspensions for brandishing weapons on Instagram Live streams.

Now catching flak for his newest celebration, Morant doesn’t plan on switching it up yet.

“That’s my celebration now until somebody else has a problem with it, and I’ll find another one,” Morant said.

The Grizzlies sit at the No. 7 seed in the loaded Western Conference.

Just like the No. 6 and. 8 seeds, Memphis is just one game behind the Nuggets for the fourth 4 seed and two behind the Lakers for the third spot.