Ja Morant claims he acted in self-defense during trial for punching teenager

nba star ja moranttestified in court Monday that during a pickup game last year, a teenage boy hit him in the face with a one-handed basketball pass at close range, and that the team’s shooting guard punched him in the face. memphis grizzlies He punched the teen once in the face. Morant said on stage that the boy punched him in the chest and raised his fist in a fighting stance. The lawsuit was filed by Joshua Hollowayhe was 17 years old when a brief fight broke out during a basketball game on a court at the NBA All-Star’s parents’ home base in the Memphis area on July 26, 2022.

Holloway, now 18, has accused Morant and his best friend. davonte pack Assault, reckless endangerment, abuse or neglect, or infliction of emotional distress. Morant, 24, said he and Pac each punched Holloway once, and Pac’s punch knocked Holloway to the ground. Morant claims he acted in self-defense because during the standoff, Holloway threw a ball at him and hit him in the jaw. check ball.a check At street parties, it is common for two opposing players to pass the ball to each other to check if their teammate is ready, often before starting play or after a foul. I will.

Lawyers for NBA players argue that Morant is exempt from liability under the law. assert your position of tennessee Allowing people who feel threatened at home to act forcefully in certain situations. The law also applies in criminal cases, but Judge Carol Chamney’s ruling last month paved the way for Morant’s lawyers to apply the law in civil cases and win a conviction. the lawsuit is dismissed. No criminal charges have been filed against Morant. Pack was charged with misdemeanor battery in July, but the charges were later dropped.

The NBA suspended Morant for the first 25 games of the season after a video of him firing a gun was posted on social media. The video shows Morant sitting in the passenger seat of a car, serving an eight-game suspension in March for a separate video in which he displayed a gun at a Denver-area nightclub. He was released.

Morant apologized for both videos. At Monday’s hearing, Morant’s father said: tee morant, the family testified that for years they had invited young local basketball players and friends of Ja Morant to play on the full-size court at their home. Morant’s parents cook meals for the players in the neighborhood after games. Holloway had been invited to play several times and had a friendly relationship with the Morantz family. Ja Morant testified that the boy was well-behaved and respectful of him and his family during previous visits. On the day of the game, Holloway was guarding Morant. Morant dominated offensively, repeatedly leading his team to victories in competitive games throughout the day.

Tee Morant testified that he urged Holloway to: play hard and go for itbut that Holloway seemed annoyed and started. “insist” With Ja Morant. During Morant’s testimony, he reenacted the fight between his own attorney, Keenan Carter, and Holloway’s attorney, Rebecca Adelman. Both lawyers brought basketballs into the room.

Ja Morant said he and Holloway faced each other in the following situation: check ball To start the game. Morant testified that Holloway placed the ball on the ground in front of him at the start of the game. check, instead of giving a pass to the chest or rebound to Morant, which is normal. Morant said he took that as a show of disrespect and handed his ball back to Holloway. The boy then rolled the ball to Morant, who scooped it up and threw his chest pass back to Holloway, Morant said. That’s when Holloway threw a quick, one-handed, strong pass with his right arm that hit Morant on the left side of his jaw. Morant had his hands down and he said he was surprised and hurt by Morant’s energetic passes.

After being punched in the face, Morant asked Holloway: “what about you?”, a phrase Morant says means “Why did you do that?” Mr. Holloway said nothing and did not apologize, Mr. Morant testified. The two then walked up to each other and stood chest to chest before Holloway collided with Morant’s shoulder, rolled his pants around his waist and raised his fist, which Morant interpreted as a fighting stance. “I thought he was going to hit me, so I hit him first.”Mr. Morant declared. After Morant’s punch hit Holloway in the face, Puck struck Holloway in the head and knocked him to the ground, Morant added.

Holloway was escorted off the court by a former NBA player. mike miller. Adelman and Morant recreated the following situation. check ball, Adelman threw the ball back to Morant, who caught it. At Adelman’s request, Morant appeared to extend his arm and strike Holloway, hitting Holloway within inches of the attorney’s face. “You could have pushed Joshua.”Adelman points out. “You could have talked to him, you could have guided him, you could have said, ‘Hey, this is not what we’re doing here, get off my property.’ You could have said that.” Adelman then asked: “Were these options good for you?”. “Yes,” Morant said.

In subsequent cross-examination, Adelman asked Morant: If you’re scared That Holloway intended to hurt him. “Yes,” he said. Hearings continue in the US on Tuesday.