The company has not only removed a recent commercial featuring Morant, but they have also removed the Grizzlies star guard from their website.
At this time, it is unknown whether or not Coca-Cola has completely severed ties with Ja Morant or if they are waiting for a decision from the NBA on if he will serve a longer suspension. Originally said to miss two games on Mar. 5 and 7 against the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers, the Grizzlies recently said that Morant would miss the team's next four games, meaning that he will be out through Mar. 13 at the least.
In his fourth season with the Grizzlies, Ja Morant recently made his second straight All-Star Game and has averaged 27.1 points, 8.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game.
In this video, Morant appeared to flash a gun at the camera, which led to the Grizzlies, NBA and the Glendale Police Department conducting investigations. No word or punishments have been handed down by the league, nor did the police press any charges against him.
However, Morant's ads for Coca-Cola's Powerade have been pulled as a result of his "suspension" from Memphis. Morant’s controversy comes at an inopportune time for Coca-Cola as it recently acquired BodyArmor and Powerade to take on electrolyte beverage giant, Gatorade. Morant’s ad was meant to relaunch Powerade and became the first athlete partnership for the brand in over five years. The campaign was titled, “From Underestimated to Undeniable” and garnered a large number of funds and resources to relaunch Powerade into the sports world. Up until now, Morant has only seen repercussions from his actions throughout the league. However, Powerade’s sudden move to pull the ads, it begs the question if other brands will follow suit. Nike, which entered into a deal with the basketball player, has only recently begun releasing his signature shoe. In a statement, Nike made it clear that they are not re-evaluating their relationship with Morant but rather, “We appreciate Ja’s accountability and that he is taking the time to get the help he needs. We support the prioritization of his well-being.”
After the incident, Morant also released his own statement which read, “I take full responsibility for my actions last night. I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down…I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”
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