As if the sports world needs another example of making millions and having a college education not guaranteeing intelligence, Memphis Grizzly star Ja Morant has been accused of punching a 17-year-old in the head and flashing a gun at him, and harassing a mall security guard.
The alleged incidents aren’t connected and Morant hasn’t been charged, but he is being hit with a civil suit for allegedly assaulting the teenager. Check this out.
In police records obtained by Molly Hensley-Clancy of the Washington Post, Morant was accused of punching the teen “12-13 times” during a pickup basketball game at the 23-year-old’s house last summer.
According to interviews conducted by Shelby County Sheriff’s Office detectives obtained by Hensley-Clancy, the teenager said Morant went into his house after hitting him and “re-emerged with a gun visible in the waistband of his pants and his hand on the weapon.”
Ja Morant when kids drive by him in a pick up game. pic.twitter.com/sJCwxS0RP3
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) March 1, 2023
Basketball is supposedly a non-contact sport. That is, unless you are playing in Ja Morant’s driveway. Then apparently it is a very contact sport. Tempers can flare, especially in a pickup game where elbows fly and fouls are rarely called. However, as an alleged adult, Morant should be mature enough to maintain a cool head. If not, then maybe don’t play the neighborhood kids in pickup games? Certainly don’t punch them and go in the house for a gun. It was already a bad week for Morant.
A few days before the alleged assault, the head of security at a Memphis mall told police he was “threatened” by Morant in the parking lot and a member of Morant’s group shoved him in the head.
There is little information on the alleged incident with the security guard, but details have emerged regarding the teen and another concerning incident during a series with the Indiana Pacers.
Morant told police in an interview he “swung first” in the alleged fight with the teenager, but he was acting in self-defense because the teenager threw a basketball at his head and stepped toward him.
Swinging first on a minor should be enough for an arrest, but authorities decided there wasn’t enough evidence. However that hasn’t stopped the teenager and his family from filing a civil suit for the alleged assault.
Ja Morant was accused of punching a 17-year-old boy 12-13 times and flashing a gun at him during a pickup basketball game last summer, according to a police report obtained by @mollyhc
Full story: https://t.co/NsRnhsIXlk pic.twitter.com/DH0utTt37V
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 1, 2023
TMZ Sports previously reported on Jan. 3 the teenager filed a lawsuit against Morant in September. Court documents showed the 17-year-old said he “accidentally” hit Morant in the face with a ball, leading to Morant asking a bystander “Should I do it to him?” before using “a closed fist” to knock him to the ground.
Morant said, per the court documents, the teenager “made verbal threats stating he’d ‘light his house up'” and “he and his family were put in fear by the statement.”
According to the police report, the boy said Morant and his friend hit him hard enough to knock him to the ground, resulting in a “large knot” on the side of his head. Deputies also wrote in the report that “they observed the boy’s injuries,”
Later in January there were also concerning reports of the Indiana Pacers traveling party being stalked by a slow moving SUV, and a red laser light being trained on the vehicle. It was also reported that acquaintances of Morant’s “aggressively confronted” members of the Pacers traveling party.
The Pacers’ traveling party also said someone in a “slow-moving SUV” that Morant was riding in “trained a red laser on them.” It was unclear if the laser was attached to a gun.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass told Kravitz and Amick the league’s investigation, “substantiated that a postgame situation arose that was confrontational,” but it could “not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon.”
Needless to say, the league is going to sweep all the concerning behavior they possibly can under the rug, especially when one of the young faces of the league like Morant is involved. Considering the drama surrounding him, it likely is only a matter of time before Ja Morant crosses a line and does something to force the league to intervene. The only question is, will someone be hurt or killed before it happens.
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