NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The NBA took aim at Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant’s imaginary gun gesture on Friday, fining him US$75,000 after he used it to celebrate a basket for the second time in a week.

NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars said in a statement that Morant — who was suspended twice in 2023 for incidents with real firearms — had been warned by the league after the first celebration “that this gesture could be interpreted in a negative light.”

Dumars called the gesture “inappropriate”.

Morant was first warned after he and Golden State’s Buddy Hield made the gesture, mimicking aiming a gun, at each other during a Grizzlies-Warriors game on Tuesday.

Morant then made similar gestures in a game against the Miami Heat on Thursday, when the gesture was directed at other Grizzlies players.

Morant scored 30 points and drilled the game-winner in the Grizzlies’ 110-108 victory at Miami.

Morant was suspended twice in 2023 for a total of 33 games after videos of him displaying firearms were live streamed on social media.

In March of 2023 he was banned eight games for live streaming a video in which he displayed a gun while at a Denver nightclub.

He was banned for 25 games to open the 2023-24 season after another video of him displaying a gun inside a car surfaced, the league saying his decision to “once again wield a firearm on social media is alarming and disconcerting”.

The National Basketball Players Association called the 25-game suspension “excessive”.