Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has filed a countersuit against a teenager alleging the point guard attacked him at a pickup basketball game.
The incident allegedly occurred at Morant’s house when Josh Holloway, a high-school basketball player, said Morant attacked him after he checked the ball to the NBA player and it hit him in the face after slipping through his hands.
Holloway’s mother sued Morant on her son’s behalf, saying Morant and his friends repeatedly punched him in the head and face – even while he was on the ground, as previously reported by The Washington Post and TMZ. The case was eventually sealed by the court.
According to Morant’s countersuit, he claims that he acted in self-defense and alleges that Holloway, ‘intentionally’ threw a basketball at his face, which could have been ‘career-ending’ for the point guard and then, ‘balled up his fists and walked aggressively toward Morant as if to attack him.’
The countersuit also claims that the teen threatened to return to Morant’s house and ‘light it up like a firework show.’
Ja Morant has filed a countersuit against a now-18-year-old who accused him of assault
The alleged incident took place at Morant’s mansion outside Memphis
Morant says he acted in self-defense and that Holloway lied about him flashing a gun
Court filings also say Holloway threatened to ‘light up’ Morant’s house ‘like a firework show’
It also alleges that Holloway later, ‘lied to police about Morant flashing a gun.’
Holloway also allegedly, ‘violated a court order by leaking details of a sealed case to the media,’ according to the suit. That leak allegedly cost Morant money by hurting his chances to make an All-NBA team this season.
The suit also says Holloway, caused Morant to be ‘subjected to castigation and ridicule’ and made him suffer both ‘personal humiliation’ and ‘impairment of the character and reputation that he has worked for years to build in the Memphis community,’ while making him ‘more circumspect’ when dealing with the media.
The 18-year-old Holloway, who was age 17 at the time of the incident, told the Washington Post that Morant and his friend Davonte Pack (who was also named in the initial lawsuit), ‘haven’t taken accountability for their actions. I don’t think you should be jumping a kid over a basketball game, regardless of any situation that should happen.’
Holloway’s mother also pushed for Morant to be criminally charged, but the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office didn’t pursue anything citing a lack of evidence, according to The Post.
This isn’t Morant’s first reported run-in with the law in Tennessee. Last summer, before this incident took place, the Grizzlies star allegedly threatened the head of security at a Memphis mall, according to a police report obtained by The Washington Post.
According to the report, Morant’s mother reportedly got into a dispute with a employee at a shoe store at the mall and she called her son who arrived shortly after with a group of ‘as many as nine people.’
This incident took place after Morant allegedly threatened a security guard at a Memphis mall
According to the police report, Morant and his friends refused to leave the parking lot when confronted by the director of mall security.
Police arrived and a ‘verbal confrontation’ reportedly escalated before someone in Morant’s entourage allegedly pushed the security chief in the head.
‘As the group was leaving the premises … Ja Morant said, “Let me find out what time he gets off,” ‘ police wrote in the report.
The head of security reportedly wanted to file a report ‘because he felt threatened by the statement from Ja Morant,’ police wrote.
Neither incident was made public at the time and Morant went on the make a strong start to the NBA season with the Grizzlies.
Morant’s agent, Jim Tanner, characterized the allegations as ‘unsubstantiated rumors and gossip are being put out by people motivated to tear Ja down and tarnish his reputation for their own financial gain.’
Morant has been accused of being involved in multiple incidents during and after NBA games
Morant finished out the regular season with the Grizzlies after multiple incidents surrounding NBA games.
First, there was an on-court confrontation between Morant and Fox Sports analyst Shannon Sharpe in mid-January. Sharpe was yelling at Morant and his Grizzlies teammates Dillon Brooks and Steven Adams that led to a scuffle but no punches thrown.
In addition, according to The Athletic, Morant was riding with Pack and one other person in an SUV when a red laser was pointed at the Pacers bus.
Two people who spoke to the publication anonymously said they believed the laser was attached to a gun, while an Indiana security guard nearby claimed ‘that’s 100 percent a gun.’ However, it was not confirmed if the laser was attached to a weapon.
The league opened an investigation into the allegation but concluded that it ‘did not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon,’ an NBA spokesperson said.
Earlier this season, Morant & the Grizzlies had an on-court confrontation with Shannon Sharpe
Recently, Morant appeared to hold up a gun to his head at a nightclub in Colorado on March 4
Recently, there was the incident at a Colorado nightclub where Morant allegedly flashed a gun on an Instagram Live video.
In a statement the NBA said that the league found that Morant had not brought a gun into any NBA facilities or on the team plane with him, it still suspended him for eight games. Morant was also not charged with any crime by police in Colorado.
Morant went to a counseling program in Florida under his own cognition after being suspended by the team.
He has since returned to the team and is preparing to start play in the NBA postseason.
