Morant ready for NBA return after ban

24-year-old American says he is just trying to come back to the game

WASHINGTON:

Two-time NBA All-Star guard Ja Morant says he endured "horrible days" during a 25-game ban and prepares to return to the Memphis Grizzlies with a new outlook on life.

Morant spoke after a Grizzlies workout on Friday after being suspended for the first 25 games of the NBA season following two social media videos showing him displaying a gun went public.

"Definitely tough. Horrible days," Morant said of his ban. "But the support I had throughout this process, it definitely helped me a lot. It was pretty much all I could lean on."

The 24-year-old American, named the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2022, will be eligible to return on Tuesday when the Grizzlies play at New Orleans.

"I'm just trying to come back and do whatever I can to help the team win," Morant said. "I'm not forcing a historic game my first game back. I'm just super excited to be back out there."

At 6-17, the Grizzlies are level with Portland for the fourth-worst record in the NBA and will struggle to try and reach the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.

"There's definitely some guilt in that. Obviously I'm not on the floor and nobody likes losing," Morant said. "I take full responsibility of that... The decisions I made didn't allow me to be out there, to go to battle with my team."

Morant was able to practice with his teammates but could not be in arenas when they were playing.

Morant was issued an eight-game ban last March after a video showed him displaying a gun at a Denver nightclub, then handed the longer ban to open the 2023-24 campaign after another video of him with a gun inside a car from last May went public.

"I've made a lot of my mistakes," Morant said. "Even with my family. Not some that has even been public. I've done a lot."

Morant, however, says he has a new outlook upon life after therapy sessions and in some ways does not regret what happened because, "In the end, it made me better."

"I feel like I learned some stuff about myself during that process," Morant said..