“They jumped me”: Teen who accused Ja Morant of beating him up has bodycam video released by police
Body footage related to the incident that led to accusations against Ja Morant by a teenager back in July 2022 has been released.
Ja Morant and his friend were accused of beating up a 17-year-old after a basketball game at the Memphis Grizzlies star in July of 2022. The victim had claimed that Morant hit him in the jaw and his friend attacked him from the other side, causing him to fall to the ground and get punched in the head multiple times. The victim also alleged that Morant went back into his house and came out with a gun in his waistband, putting his hand on it.
Morant, however, has maintained his innocence, claiming that he acted in self-defense. The 23-year old superstar has had a troubled time recently, and was suspended by the NBA in March for 8 games. In the body footage that has been released from the July 2022 incident, the alleged victim can be seen explaining to police officers exactly what occurred after the game.
The teenager can be seen showing how Morant and his friend ganged up on him, and explained that he was lying on the ground for 20 seconds while the two continued to hit him. The incident took place after the teenager had initially talked “trash” to Morant and his friend, which led to a violent response.
Police body cam footage released from encounter with 17-year-old who accused Ja Morant of beating him up 👀
https://t.co/luUhx2umSK
Memphis Grizzlies need Ja Morant to be at best for postseason
The Memphis Grizzlies will head into their last game off the season off the back of an impressive win against the Milwaukee Bucks. While Ja Morant has been in prime form since the start of the campaign, off-court incidents have led to consistent trouble.
Morant's off-court troubles seemingly began when he appeared to threaten somebody on Twitter. Late in the 2021-22 NBA season, he got into a war of words on Twitter with somebody who appeared to be trolling him over a woman he was dating. Ja Morant responded, in a now-deleted tweet, with the statement: "It's free to see how hollow feels."
After the season, Ja Morant was accused of threatening a mall security guard, and four days later, he was accused of beating up a teenager. This was followed by the Instagram incident where he flashed a gun and was suspended without pay for 8 games.
JA. MORANT. 😱 https://t.co/RZzaMKhrd0
In just his fourth season in the NBA, the 23-year-old Ja Morant is already seen by many as the future face of the NBA, following in the steps of LeBron James and Steph Curry. He recently signed a max rookie extension for five years that will be worth as much as $193 million. Of course, fans will want him to keep his off-court antics in check in order to fulfil that potential.