Ja Morant has ‘complied with everything,’ Adam Silver says

LAS VEGAS — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he plans to have an individual check-in with Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant this coming week ahead of his potential return from a 25-game suspension later this month.

“Yes, I have been monitoring the situation closely, and him. In fact, we intend to have a check-in this week directly, Ja and I,” Silver said during his news conference ahead of the in-season tournament’s championship game at T-Mobile Arena Saturday night. “But folks in the league office, together with Ja and his team and the Players Association, have been in regular contact, essentially weekly. There have been those checkpoints.

“We’ve, together, laid out a program for him over the last several weeks, and to the best of my knowledge, he’s complied with everything he’s been asked to do. As I said, we’ll talk at least once this week before he comes back, and we will review the program and make sure the conditions are in place for him to be successful going forward.”

Morant was suspended for 25 games for conduct detrimental to the league back in June after a video on social media circulated in May showing him brandishing a firearm, after he’d been suspended eight games in March after he was on Instagram Live holding up a handgun while at a Denver nightclub.

When Morant was suspended, Silver wrote in the statement announcing it that, “prior to his return to play, he will be required to formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior.”

Memphis, which has gone 6-15 to start this season, currently sits in a tie for 13th in the Western Conference standings and will play its 25th game on Dec. 18 in Oklahoma City against the Thunder — meaning Morant, presuming things go as expected, will be eligible to return on Dec. 19 in New Orleans against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Without Morant, the Grizzlies were a non-factor in the in-season tournament, finishing 0-4. But the leaguewide buzz has been positive.

And Silver, not surprisingly — after years of advocating for his league to adopt a tournament during the regular season, like ones that are held in European soccer and basketball leagues — said he was pleased by the way the tournament has played out, and the way it has been embraced by players, coaches and fans.

Part of what has caused the players to embrace the tournament is the…