Ja Morant & Knicks Fan Adam Sandler Gun Joke From NBA Commissioner? Comedy is Hard
Adam Sandler is a New York Knicks fan who likes to dabble in basketball. And now we've learned that another Adam, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, likes to dabble in ... comedy?!
The problem here, of course, is that the "joke'' is centered on troubled Memphis Grizzles star Ja Morant and his penchant for playing with handguns, on social media and beyond.
Hey, did ya hear about the one where Silver appears on Thursday's video interview with Dan Patrick and tells a Ja joke? About guns?
Silver took an appropriately serious tone for a time before somehow the subject of Patrick having cameo'ed in Sandler's sports-related movies was broached. Patrick said Sandler "carries the ball more than anybody" ... a silly dig at Sander's pickup skills. Patrick added that maybe the comedic actor, to help the league cut down on traveling, should star in an anti-carrying PSA.
"It can have a double meaning, by the way," Silver replied.
"Yeah, the Ja Morant anti-carrying, absolutely," Patrick replied.
Yeah! ... But no.
They say "Comedy is hard, dying is easy.'' That's an actor's slogan. But Silver confirms it here as he tried to perform a stand-up act even as the league is working though the details of Morant's situation - of course, Silver is waiting until the NBA Finals are done because nothing must get in the way of that! - - before he announces a ruling.
Morant has claimed that the "weapon'' he brandishes is a toy, to wish Silver remarked that in one of the videos, Morant appeared to be "treating a guy as a toy."
"It's something that I'm thinking a lot about,'' Silver said, "but in fact if you are live-streaming something that to the world looks exactly like a gun in a frankly reckless manner, should it matter whether or not it's a real gun?"
During the regular season, the NBA suspended Morant for eight games after he was seen via video flashing a gun at a nightclub. The Grizzlies suspended him again later following another video of him holding a gun in a car.
Silver said he was "incredibly disappointed" by Morant's actions, and justifiably so. And now we are incredibly disappointed that Silver thinks anything about this is funny.
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