Grizzlies star Ja Morant facing new gun, assault accusations
The worrying accusations surrounding Ja Morant are growing.
In separate incidents reported to police last summer, the Grizzlies star allegedly quarreled with a security guard in a mall parking lot and displayed a gun to a teen he had punched in the head during a dispute at his home.
The head of security at a Memphis mall told police Morant “threatened” him during a parking lot altercation during the summer, according to records obtained by the Washington Post.
He also told officers a member of Morant’s group shoved him in the head.
No arrests were made in the altercation.
In a separate incident four days later, Morant was accused of punching a 17-year-old boy in the head repeatedly during a pickup game at the 23-year-old’s house.
Morant and a friend hit the teen hard enough to send him to the ground and left him with a “large knot” on the side of his head, according to deputies who observed the injuries.
The boy told detectives Morant went into his house and reemerged with his hand on a gun visible in the waistband of his pants.
Morant told police the teen was the aggressor in the incident, throwing a ball at his head and stepping toward him, and that he had acted in self-defense.
“I swung first,” the NBA star told detective, adding “The ball was to me the first hit.”
Morant also told officers the teen — a top basketball prospect in the area — left his home shouting, “I’m gonna come back and light this place up like fireworks.”
Read more of The Post’s coverage on Ja Morant’s suspension
- Grizzlies’ Ja Morant to miss at least two games, ‘get help’ after troubling gun video
- Grizzlies had players-only meeting to address Ja Morant’s behavior
- Ja Morant risks losing everything as legal troubles mount: ‘Beyond stupid’
Morant later filed a police report about the boy’s comment, saying his family had been threatened.
Shelby County prosectors declined to file charges due to a lack of evidence, a spokesperson told the Washington Post.
The teen, however, is suing Morant, according to a January TMZ report.
Neither incident was publicized at the time it occurred.
They are the latest revelations of trouble surrounding the No. 2-overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and a two-time All-Star, who has been at the center of on- and off-the-court issues recently.
On Jan. 20, Morant’s father, Tee, got into an altercation with Fox Sports host and ex-NFLer Shannon Sharpe that spilled onto the court at halftime of a game against the Lakers.
In early February, the NBA investigated allegations by the Pacers that Morant’s entourage “aggressively confronted” members of their traveling party and pointed a red laser at them, possibly attached to a gun.
Morant later confirmed that his friend, Davante Pack, was banned from Memphis’ FedExForum following the laser incident.
The Grizzlies enter Wednesday as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference at 37-23, though they’ve struggled in recent weeks, losing eight of nine at one point.
