Ja Morant is fighting back against a teenager.
Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies has filed a countersuit against Josh Holloway, the high school basketball player involved in an incident during a pickup game at Morant’s house last July.
Morant and the boy reportedly got into a fight during a pickup basketball game at Morant’s residence after sharing hard passes with one another to check the ball in. The boy’s return pass slipped out of his hands and hit Morant in the face. He claims that pass could’ve ended his career.
Via Action News 5:
- Intentionally threw a basketball at his face, which could have ended Morant’s career.
- Walked aggressively toward Morant with his fists clenched, as if he were about to hit him.
- Threatened to return to Morant’s house and light it up “like a firework show,” as he left.
- Threatened Morant again in a Snapchat post.
- Lied to police about Morant flashing a gun.
- Violated a court order by leaking details of a sealed case to the media.
- 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.
- Cost Morant money by hurting his chances to make an All-NBA team this season.
The teen “lied to the police about Morant brandishing a weapon and that the key details of the once-sealed case were leaked to the media in violation of a court order,” the countersuit says.
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Morant admitted he “swung first” but said he acted in self-defense, noting that the boy had become the aggressor by throwing a basketball at Morant’s head and lifting up his pants as a sign of “wanting to fight,” according to the report.
Shortly after this incident, Morant would film himself in a club in the Denver area where he displayed a gun in the video, an act that left him with an eight-game suspension.
The Grizzlies are currently the second seed in the Western Conference and are set to begin a seven-game series against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
