A timeline of Ja Morant’s controversies: Assault accusations, gun flashing...
More details have emerged in the Ja Morant assault incidents, which occurred in the summer, in which he punched a teenager and threatened a security guard.
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has been accused of two different assaults within the span of four days, both of which occurred back in July. TMZ first reported about the incident and that the charges by the teenager were not brought forward until September. Now, the Washington Post has released more details.
The allegations against him came the same day that Morant became the face of Powerade’s new marketing campaign.
Timeline of Ja Morant assault accusations
July 22, 2022
According to the Washington Post, the head of security at Wolfchase Galleria mall in Memphis, Tennessee told police he was “threatened” by Ja Morant in the parking lot of the mall. Allegedly, Morant’s mother had gotten into an argument with an employee at Finish Line shoe store within the mall and called Morant, who arrived with a group of around nine people. The security guard said that a member of Morant’s group shoved him in the head and that Morant said, “let me find out what time he gets off” as he was leaving the incident. The security guard filed a police report, but records show that no arrests were made.
July 26, 2022
Ja Morant hosted a pickup basketball game at his house in Eads, Tennessee. A player from the local high school attended and according to police documents, the two got into a heated verbal argument. The teenager said he “accidentally” threw a hard pass at Morant’s face, leading Morant to approach him and ask another person in attendance, “should I do it to him?”. The teenager said Morant then punched him and knocked him to the ground. He said Morant continued to hit him when he was on the ground and that another person jumped in and started hitting him, too.
“I fell to the ground trying to cover my face so I wouldn’t get hit in the face,” he told police. “I started getting hit, punched in my head, everything else.”
He said Morant hit him 12 to 13 times and that the other person hit him four or five times. The police reported the teen had a large knot on the side of his head. Morant did not deny hitting the teenager, but told police he was acting in self defense, saying that when he threw the ball at his face, it was intentional, and that the teen approached him as if he wanted to fight. “The ball was to me the first hit,” Morant said. He told police his “brother” was involved in the altercation as well, but did not give a name.
Both Morant and the teenager said that some spectators broke up the fight rather quickly. Morant said the teen verbally threatened him, saying he would light his house on fire.
The teen also told police that Morant went inside and came back out with a gun in his pants. He said his dad was telling him to go back into the house.
At some point weeks later, Morant filed a police report against the boy, alleging that he threatened his family, but it is unclear exactly when.
September 9, 2022
The teenage boy filed the lawsuit in Shelby County accusing Morant of assault.
October 4, 2022
The case was submitted to the district attorney’s office.
Late October, 2022
The DA declined prosecution, deciding “there was not enough evidence to proceed with a case,” said a spokesperson.
January 3, 2023
TMZ Sports reported about the teenager filing the lawsuit against Morant.
February 2023
The Athletic’s Bob Kravitz and Sam Amick reported that the Indiana Pacers alleged that some friends of Morant’s “aggressively confronted” members of their traveling party after a game on January 29. They said that someone in a “slow-moving SUV trained a red laser” on them, and that Morant was in that vehicle, but it’s unclear if the laser was attached to a gun. NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said that the NBA investigated the incident but that it could “not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon”.
What happens now?
It is not clear what the teenager wants from the lawsuit, but records show that Morant and his friend Davonte Pack are listed as defendants. When the detectives spoke to Morant about the incident, they mentioned the accusation about the gun but did not ask Morant to verify the veracity of the claim.
Morant’s agent, Jim Tanner, said the allegations are just “unsubstantiated rumors and gossip put out by people motivated to tear Ja down and tarnish his reputation for their own financial gain.” He said the incident was self-defense and nothing more and that the matter should be put to rest as the police already decided they would not charge him for any crime.
An NBA spokesperson said the league “takes allegations of inappropriate conduct very seriously.” He also said that there were several witnesses who confirmed that Morant did not actually have a weapon and that the allegations were investigated and disproven. The Grizzlies declined to comment on the matter. The NBA did not confirm whether they had investigated the incident or not, nor whether they plan to in the future. As for now, Morant is still playing for the Grizzlies. On Tuesday, he put up 39 points, 10 rebounds, and two steals in 34 minutes in Memphis’ 121-109 win over the Lakers.