Ja Morant Accused of Punching 16-Year-Old, per Report

The Grizzlies’ star point guard, Ja Morant, is accused of punching a 17-year-old during a pickup basketball game that took place last summer, according to a Wednesday report from Molly Hensley-Clancy of The Washington Post. The incident reportedly occurred four days after a security guard at a Memphis mall filed a police report alleging that Morant threatened him and an associate of Morant shoved him, though no arrests were made.

During the pickup game, Morant repeatedly punched the teenager in the head, the boy told police. The incident happened at Morant’s house, and the teenager told police that Morant later went into his home and returned with a gun visible in his waistband.

Morant told police in an interview that he was acting in self-defense after the boy threw a basketball at his head, though he acknowledged, “I swung first.”

Morant also said that the boy threatened to “come back and light this place up like fireworks” as he left the property. The Grizzlies star filed a police report about that comment, saying it was a threat to his family. Prosecutors declined to file any charges.

Morant’s agent, Jim Tanner, said the allegations are “unsubstantiated rumors and gossip … being put out by people motivated to tear Ja down and tarnish his reputation for their own financial gain.”

The boy told police that Morant hit him “12 or 13 times.” He said the confrontation began when Morant threw the ball hard at his chest as he attempted to check it in. When the boy responded by throwing the ball hard back, it slipped through Morant’s hands and hit him in the chin.

In an interview with police, an attorney for Morant called the lawsuit a “shake down,” saying the boy’s mother demanded $20 million from Morant. Hensley-Clancy also reported that the boy’s mother has a history of filing lawsuits that eventually get dismissed, including one against the Memphis fire department and another against her children’s school district.