Ja Morant appears to flash a GUN on his Instagram Live video while posing topless in a strip club

NBA star Ja Morant has posted a shocking Instagram Live video in which he appears to flash a gun while posing topless in a strip club in the early hours of the morning.

Morant, 23, has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the past week, after a police report revealed he ‘flashed a gun at a 17-year-old after punching him 12 to 13 times at his Tennessee mansion’ last summer.

The Memphis Grizzlies player – who is also a two-time All-Star and one of the best players in the NBA – then followed that news up by performing a gun celebration on the court hours later, and has now courted controversy once more.

In the Instagram clip, which was widely shared on Twitter immediately after it went out on his page, Morant is dancing topless in a strip club, before appearing to lifting a gun up to the side of his head.

In the background of the video, topless women can be seen dancing, while Morant laughs with his friends.

Ja Morant appeared to hold up a gun in an Instagram Live video in the early hours of Saturday

Grizzlies’ Morant was seen pretending to shoot a gun in celebration during a game this week

The tasteless clip is just the latest in a series of gun-related controversies involving the young NBA star, who earns $12,119,000 a year.

Morant was sued in September for allegedly punching a Tennessee teenager in the face during a pickup game, but the NBA star claims he was acting in self defense.

New details from police interviews obtained by The Washington Post reveal that the 17-year-old told detectives from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office that the point guard hit him ’12 to 13 times,’ adding that Morant’s friend struck him an additional ‘four to five times.’

The teenager claimed that as he got up to leave after the fight Morant went into his house and re-emerged with a gun. 

Morant allegedly had the weapon visible in the waistband of his pants and had his hand on the gun. 

The 17-year-old plaintiff claimed he was playing pickup basketball with Morant when the two got into an argument, which quickly escalated. He admits to throwing a basketball at Morant and ‘accidentally’ hitting the 6-foot-2 guard in the face.

Morant and his friend allegedly responded by striking the 17-year-old ‘with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground’ and leaving him with a ‘large knot’ on the side of his head, according to a police report written by deputies who said they observed the boy’s injuries.

The alleged incident last summer took place at Morant’s mansion outside Memphis (pictured)

Hours before game against the Rockets, a police report regarding Morant (L) was publicized

Morant ‘continued sticking him while on the ground’ as another person joined in to strike the teenager, who compared the hits to ‘an MMA bout.’

Morant is said to have admitted striking the 17-year-old, but told police he did so in self defense. According to the former Murray State star, the plaintiff also ‘made verbal threats’ and said he was going to ‘light [Morant’s] house up.’

Morant said ‘he and his family were put in fear by the statement.’

In a baffling incident just days after the report was released, Morant courted yet more controversy – this time at an NBA game – when he performed a gun celebration after watching a teammate shoot a three-pointer. 

The unsavory moment occurred on Wednesday night as the Memphis Grizzlies took on the Houston Rockets, with Morant watching on from the bench as Desmond Bane drained a three-point effort in front of his teammates.  

Morant was hyped up by the shot, and celebrated by pretending to shoot a gun at Bane as he ran up the floor back on defense.

Morant is a huge name in the NBA but has been involved in a series of different controversies

 The head of security at a Memphis mall also alleged  that Morant ‘threatened’ him last summer

The police report of Morant’s actions drew ire from some members of the media, including Shannon Sharpe – who was involved in a notable altercation this season with members of Morant’s entourage – including Ja’s father Tee Morant. 

‘I’ve said it before, Ja, you’re going to have to move differently,’ Sharpe advised. ‘You’re in a different stratosphere now. I just think he needs to conduct himself as a person that’s in that same stratosphere.

‘He portrays that he is like something that he is not … He’s hustling backwards … Ja, just move differently, bruh…

‘I would never give you any advice on how to play basketball, but I would try to give you some advice on how to move,’ Sharpe continued. 

‘Let somebody else’s lesson be your lesson … Ja there are a lot of lessons out there for you to learn without having to learn that same lesson through your own hardship, that’s all I would say to him.’ 

Morant played for the Grizzlies on Friday night in Denver, just hours before the Instagram clip

Memphis were heavily beaten by the Nuggets, but Morant appeared in high spirits throughout

Morant was also involved in a separate incident at a Memphis mall last summer, after the New York Post reported that the head of security told police that Morant ‘threatened’ him during an altercation in the parking lot.

Morant’s mother reportedly got into a dispute with a employee at a shoe store at the mall and she called her son who arrived shortly after with a group of ‘as many as nine people.’

According to the police report, Morant and his friends refused to leave the parking lot when confronted by the director of mall security.

Police arrived and a ‘verbal confrontation’ reportedly escalated before someone in Morant’s entourage allegedly pushed the security chief in the head. 

‘As the group was leaving the premises … Ja Morant said, “Let me find out what time he gets off,”‘ police wrote in the report.