Report: Memphis police allegedly mishandled multiple Ja Morant allegations throughout 2022
New details around allegations against Ja Morant emerged that paint an unpleasant picture of the Memphis Grizzlies star guard.
A Washington Post article from Thursday documented a timeline of alleged events from the summer of 2022 that included interviews with two people affected by Morant's purported actions. The article also described how Memphis police appeared to mishandle three reports by misrepresenting or failing to identify alleged suspects and witnesses at the scene of various alleged incidents that either reportedly included Morant, his family or his associates.
Accounts of Morant's off-court activities have already been reported this year: There was an alleged assault on a teenager during a pickup basketball game, an alleged verbal altercation at a shoe store, a reported postgame confrontation between Morant's friends and Indiana Pacers staffers and then the incident at a Denver-area strip club where Morant flashed a gun on Instagram Live that resulted in an eight-game suspension for the guard. Morant entered counseling during his suspension and has since returned to the Grizzlies and admitted he must be "more responsible" moving forward.
Morant's alleged pickup basketball fight
When police spoke with Joshua Holloway, the teenager who Morant and a friend allegedly punched at a pickup basketball game this past summer, they reportedly told Holloway, "Chances are, our detectives will probably drop a warrant on him for assault.”
A warrant was never issued, though, and Morant's family filed their own complaint which claimed Holloway said he would "light the block up” and they feared Holloway would “come back and shoot at them with a firearm." Holloway denied this allegation. Morant reportedly wasn't interviewed by police until six weeks after the alleged altercation and said he felt like he was in danger after he claimed Holloway "pulled up his pants," according to transcripts obtained by the Post.
Police appeared to give Morant the benefit of the doubt in this situation when one officer said, “I got you. Coming from where I come from, I know when you pull those pants up — aye, you mean business.”
Morant's attorneys provided police with eight affidavits, six of which supported Morant's story and none of which identified Morant's friend, Davonte Pack, who was named in Holloway's original lawsuit. Police reportedly didn't press Morant to identify Pack, who was banned from the Grizzlies' home arena in February after a verbal altercation with Pacers players.
Morant's alleged shoe store incident
Morant allegedly verbally threatened Givon Busby, a 22-year-old who worked at a Memphis shoe store, on July 22, 2022, after Busby reportedly didn't have the shoe Morant's mother was looking for. Morant allegedly followed Busby to an area of the store where customers weren't allowed and told Busby he'd "wait until you get off work.”
After Busby filed a report, Memphis police did not identify Morant's mother, reportedly listed her as "Suspect #1 Unknown" and did not list Morant in the incident. Busby told police the store had security footage of the alleged incident, but the police reportedly never followed up.
"I just feel like they thought I was lying, basically,” Busby told the Post.
Morant's family alleged altercation at sister's volleyball match
Another incident involved Morant and his family verbally jarring with others at a high school volleyball match in Germantown, Tennessee, on Sept. 22, 2022.
A police report described a scene where officers blocked Morant and those around him from reaching students who were yelling at Morant's sister. According to the report, one man with Morant pushed past an officer and "slapped" a cellphone out of a student's hand and said he would "beat" them. Kevin Helms, a Grizzlies official, also showed up in an attempt to help de-escalate the situation.
Police reportedly did not press Morant or Helms to identify some members of the group and no charges were filed.
