Ja Morant

Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has been accused of punching and flashing a gun at a 17-year-old and threatening a mall security guard. In police records…

A two-time All-Star, Morant is in his fourth season with the Grizzlies. 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?" It was unclear if the laser was attached to a gun. Deputies also wrote in the report that "they observed the boy's injuries," per Hensley-Clancy. before using "a closed fist" to knock him to the ground. 3 the teenager filed a lawsuit against Morant in September.

The worrying accusations surrounding Ja Morant are growing. The head of security at a Memphis mall told police the Grizzlies star “threatened” him during a ...

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. 2 seed in the Western Conference at 37-23, though they’ve struggled in recent weeks, losing eight of nine at one point. 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. 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 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 head of security at a Memphis mall told police the Grizzlies star “threatened” him during a parking lot altercation during the summer, according to records obtained by the Washington Post.

No arrests were made in either incident, though the teen's family has filed a lawsuit.

Morant and his family believed that the boy would return and shoot them, per the police report. Morant told police, "The ball was the first swing to me." The boy told police that Morant went back inside his house and returned with a gun in his waistband. During that incident, Morant told police he acted in self-defense as he said the boy threw a basketball which hit him in the head. Four days after that incident at the mall, Morant was then accused of punching a 17-year-old boy during a pickup basketball game at his home in Memphis. In the report, the security guard said Morant made threatening remarks while a person with the Grizzlies guard shoved the director.

Mall security told Memphis police he felt threatened by Grizzlies star Ja Morant in July 2022, four days before a Morant was accused of punching teen.

Any of the dozens of witnesses will confirm Ja acted in self-defense and that he did not have a firearm." Morant's agent, Jim Tanner, said in a statement provided to The Commercial Appeal that the Washington Post's story did not state that dozens of people at Morant's home on July 26 say that he acted in self-defense. "[The teen] threw the ball at [Morant], intentionally hitting him in the face, and began to approach [Morant] as if he wanted to fight," Morant's statement to police said. "Officer Edwards positioned his body in between the two individuals to prevent a physical altercation. Ja Morant, although named in the report, was not named as a suspect. According to the report, someone's mother was in a dispute with an employee inside The Finish Line shoe store.

NBA star Ja Morant has been accused of both beating up a teenager and threatening a mall security guard during incidents that occurred in July 2022.

Witnesses, however, told police that the teenager “squared up” to fight Morant after the ball-throwing incident, and didn’t mention the gun. Both incidents in the Washington Post report came months before The Athletic reported that members of Morant’s entourage had a heated exchange with players on the Indiana Pacers during and following a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. That altercation was in the lawsuit filed against Morant; what was left out of the lawsuit — but mentioned in the police interviews — is the claim that Morant went back into his house and then “came out with a gun.” While Morant didn’t pull the gun on the teen, he had his hand on the firearm, the teenager told police. Morant and his friend then allegedly pummeled the teenager with over a dozen punches. According to the Washington Post, the police report states that “as the group was leaving the premises… When Morant and his group arrived, they were interceded by mall security guards, who in turn had a “verbal confrontation” that turned physical with Morant’s group.

Shannon Sharpe already gave us a taste of Ja Morant's demeanor when the two of them got in a scuffle at Crypto.com Arena earlier this season.

In the interview with the police, Morant confessed he "swung first" but acted in self-defense after the kid allegedly hit Morant with a basketball in the head. In his account, the 17-year-old accidentally hit Morant in the head and Ja reacted violently. This is the most recent from a number of issues Ja Morant has been involved with. According to him, Morant punched him in the face and then moved back into his house with a gun strapped to his waist. There is another report before the alleged assult when Ja Morant was accused of threatened by Morant in the parking lot of a Memphis mall. Sharpe immediately called Ja Morant out because he acts as he was a thug.

Powerade is relaunching its brand, and Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant will play a large role in the new look for the sports drink.

We are excited for what lies ahead and there’s no doubtthe brand will be a force to be reckoned and a relentless competitor as exemplified by Ja every timehe hydrates and hits the hardwood." Powerade was created in 1988 and is the No. “I see a lot of myself in a brand like Powerade,” Ja Morant said in a statement. 1 in sports hydration. Morant's campaign is expected to be the largest in Powerade history. In that time, he's been featured in commercials and community projects.

The Memphis Grizzlies point guard is the focus of a major brand overhaul for Coca-Cola's sports drink.

Little Black Book, Campaign from Ogilvy New York and DAVID New York unveils Ja at the brands first athlete partnership in over five years.

The launch of this campaign comes directly on the heels of the brand announcing an all-new formula, as well as new-look packaging earlier this year. For Morant, that meant transforming from an unranked high school basketball recruit to one of the most dynamic and brightest stars in the league. As the face of newly rebranded POWERADE, Morant stars in the brand’s latest national marketing campaign and television spot, 'What 50% More Means.'

Murant has been accused of punching the teenager multiple times during a basketball game at the player's house last summer.

The teenager filed a lawsuit against Morant in September 2022. In a court proceeding, he said he hit Morant in the face ‘accidentally’ with a ball, leading to Morant using ‘a closed fist’ to knock him on the ground. According to a Washington Post, Murant has been accused of punching the teenager multiple times during a basketball game at the player’s house last summer and later emerged ‘with a gun visible in the waistband of his pants and his hand on the weapon.”

But take a closer look, and the Memphis Grizzlies' star has been accused of being involved in other violent squabbles over the past year. They include punching ...

He used to be the teenager fighting over nonsense with his peers, and it was merely boys being boys, with his father still enough of an authority to de-escalate. If he keeps this up, his reputation will be more troubling and controversial than how he is known now: as a delightful late bloomer from Murray State University who dances the Griddy and embraces all challenges with trash-talking determination. As young athletes become richer and more coddled, the NBA can be a difficult place to mature because the culture of accountability diminishes with each generation. Or it compels them to bring all their old baggage into their new lives, creating the oddest alternate universe in which everything is the same, except coated in opulence, entitlement and a false sense of invincibility. He came out of nowhere, from the winding roads of Dalzell, S.C., to stardom. Morant is a 23-year-old superstar experiencing the first bad look of his career. Morant is no longer the unknown South Carolina kid desperate to grow taller and defy expectations. But even if that made it easier to open his closet, Morant is responsible for the skeletons inside. He has plenty to lose now, and while the competitor in him is focused on stopping those who might take it from him, he needs to realize that he could steal it from himself if he doesn’t grow up. But take a closer look, and the Memphis Grizzlies’ star has been accused of being involved in other violent squabbles over the past year. A league investigation didn’t lead anywhere, and you figured the altercation would go down as one of a handful of NBA urban legends with little significance beyond perpetuating the sport’s reputation for drama. That incident began with an argument on the court and ended with postgame allegations of someone in Morant’s SUV pointing a red laser thought to be from a gun at members of the Pacers organization.

It's the second controversy in the span of a month for Morant. The rising NBA star recently secured partnerships with Nike and Powerade.

Four days after that, Morant allegedly punched a 17-year-old boy in the head multiple times during a pickup basketball game at the NBA player’s house. A member of Morant’s group shoved him in the head, per previously unreported police records obtained by [TMZ](https://www.tmz.com/2023/01/03/ja-morant-sued-after-allegedly-punching-teen-basketball-game-memphis-home/) in January.

The Memphis Grizzlies' superstar needs to chill before something really bad happens.

[got into a screaming match](https://deadspin.com/shannon-sharpe-dillon-brooks-fight-nba-lakers-grizzlies-1850014708) in the middle of a Lakers game. [an alleged incident at a mall](https://sports.yahoo.com/ja-morant-reportedly-accused-of-repeatedly-punching-teenage-boy-in-head-threatening-him-with-gun-last-summer-194652437.html) where Ja and a bunch of his friends showed up at a shoe store after his mom got into a dispute with one of the clerks. Yet it was even more baffling that one of Morant’s friends saw that, and replicated it a few days later, getting himself [banned from the arena](https://nba.nbcsports.com/2023/02/06/morant-says-friend-banned-from-arena-over-laser-pointer-incident-dispute-with-pacers/) in the process. [Security was called, and Ja allegedly threatened one of the guards.](https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2023/03/01/ja-morant-threatens-mall-director-memphis-grizzlies/69959921007/) No arrests were made. Let’s leave it on the floor though. I love that Ja is aggressive whenever he steps on a basketball court. That said, those are all physical specimens who can take a charge or get form tackled and get back up. Morant’s agent refuted the Post’s findings, and at the time Ja filed a report that his family was threatened. “Any and every allegation involving a firearm has been fully investigated and could not be corroborated. The NBA looked into it and found nothing happened. Now that feeling of impending doom has started creeping in with Morant off the court. It’s a lot like how Jedis are able to pod race but regular human beings would die within 10 seconds of the green light.

Shannon Sharpe urged Ja Morant to "move differently" after the Grizzlies star point guard was accused more off-the-court incidents this week.

“I wish Ja would realize he’s not a thug,” Sharpe said on “Undisputed” at the time. “I would never give you any advice on how to play basketball, but I would try to give you some advice on how to move,” Sharpe continued. “To think you gangster because you roll with these types of people. “He portrays that he is like something that he is not … I just think he needs to conduct himself as a person that’s in that same stratosphere. “You’re in a different stratosphere now.

Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless weighed in on the Ja Morant allegations.