The NBA announced Friday it has fined Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant $75,000 for defying a previous warning issued by the league to stop a celebration in which he imitated carrying a gun with his hands.

Morant displayed the gesture, in which he extends his left arm and points two of his right fingers with his right thumb in the air to mimic the use of a firearm, on several occasions during the Grizzlies' last two games. He and Golden State's Buddy Hield flashed the signal at one another during Memphis' game against the Warriors on Tuesday, which prompted the NBA to issue a public warning to both players.

That mandate did not stop Morant from continuing the act in Thursday's game against the Miami Heat, which again drew the ire of the league office and resulted in a hefty fine for what the NBA declared a "gesture that could be interpreted in a negative light."

It's not the first time Morant has faced discipline from either the league or his team. The two-time All-Star was suspended a total of 33 games over the previous two seasons for two incidents where he was recorded brandishing a firearm in public.

The following was released by the NBA: pic.twitter.com/rQfUDpj1Ao

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In the first instance, Morant live-streamed himself with a gun while in a Denver-area nightclub in March 2023, which earned him an eight-game suspension from the NBA. After another video surfaced of him carrying a weapon in public in May of that year, NBA commissioner Adam Silver suspended the 25-year-old for the first 25 games of the 2023-24 season for conduct detrimental to the league.

Morant told reporters following Thursday's contest, in which he gave Memphis a much-needed 110-108 victory by hitting a game-winning jumper at the buzzer, he is well aware of the criticism regarding his behaviour and is not bothered by the perception of his image.

“I'm kind of used to it,” he said. “I was pretty much a villain for two years now. Every little thing, if somebody can say something negative about me, it's going to be out there. So, yeah. I don't care no more.”

Morant's recent actions have been part of a highly tumultuous period for the Grizzlies, who fired head coach Taylor Jenkins a week ago following a 6-9 stretch that dropped the team in the Western Conference standings. 

Memphis then lost its first three games under interim coach Tuomas Iisalo and has fallen into sixth place in the West.