Ja Morant filmed himself holding a toy gun back on May 14 in an effort to show his family and friends that he did not have a real firearm during his now-infamous Instagram Live sesh ... and TMZ Sports has just obtained the footage.
In the video, you can see Morant -- easily identified by his unique tattoos -- attempting to show the weapon was nothing more than a lighter.
Morant used the flames that came out of the phony gun to ignite some candles .