Ja Morant is on the news once again following shocking revelations about his off-the-court antics. Despite his stellar rise in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies, the allegations against him don’t look good. Morant’s performance has been nothing less than spectacular. The 23-year-old may be a phenomenal player but his off-court behavior has put his career in jeopardy.
Ja has been accused of punching a 17-year-old during a game of pickup basketball. What’s even more shocking is he flashed a gun at the minor, which has attracted negative labels from NBA fans.
His most recent incident involved his long-time friend Davonte Pack. Just like Morant, he is also known for playing basketball. However, he went undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft. Pack played for Friends University averaging 14.9 ppg through 67 games. He scored a total of 1,004 points in his entire college career. But he’s had many reasons for being labeled as controversial.
Ja Morant and Andrew Nembhard got into it and eventually James Johnson got involved. Looks like Ja Morant’s friend Davonte Pack was escorted off the floor. pic.twitter.com/etvu1yIXHZ
— Damichael Cole (@DamichaelC) January 30, 2023
On January 29, the Grizzlies played the Indiana Pacers, at home. Pack was seen in the front row, supporting his friend and trash-talking to the Pacers’ players. During the third quarter, Morant got into an altercation on the court with the Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard. Pack ended up adding fuel to the fire before security escorted him out of the court.
Associates of Ja Morant verbally accosted Pacers personnel and someone trained a red laser on them from a nearby SUV postgame on Jan. 29.
“We felt we were in grave danger,” a person who was present said.
The NBA investigated the incident.
More from @bkravitz and @sam_amick:
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 5, 2023
However, a serious incident occurred after the game. A red laser was allegedly pointed at the Pacers bus from an SUV. This caused the Pacers staff to feel that they were “in grave danger”. After they informed the league about it, an investigation was conducted by the NBA. Davonte Pack was banned from the FedEx Forum for a year.
How did Ja Morant react to the NBA’s decision to ban Davonte Pack from FedEx Forum Arena?
The NBA’s decision to ban Davonte Pack from the arena was not taken lightly by the Grizzlies guard. Morant supported his friend and claimed that the story was completely false. He tweeted, “Did a investigation seen they were cappin. Still let a article come out to paint this negative image on me & my fam. & banned my brother from home games for a year. unbelievable.” Morant questioned the legitimacy of the story reported by The Athletic.
Prior to the Raptors and Grizz game, Taylor Jenkins comments on the report from the Athletic concerning associates of Ja Morant following a verbal altercation with the Indiana Pacers on Jan.29th pic.twitter.com/UTub55xNZ1
— Colin Cody (@ColinzCody) February 5, 2023
Setting aside the Grizzlies vs. Pacers game incident, Morant is still being held responsible for assaulting a minor. As reported by The Washington Post, Davonte was present at the scene.
Candace Buckner (of WP) tweeted explaining what happened during the altercation. She said, “I deleted a previous tweet that incorrectly stated Morant *pointed* a gun at the 17-year-old boy. The actual alleged version of events is in the story: the boy told detectives Morant had a gun visible in his waistband and placed his hand on the weapon.”
Morant is walking on thin ice at the moment, and anything he does will be heavily scrutinized. Following this incident, Pack was issued an arrest warrant and taken into custody for a while. He was released on his own recognizance, according to Local Memphis.
Are Ja Morant and Davonte Pack still friends?
Based on everything that has happened, Ja Morant has been heavily criticized. Interestingly, Pack has made an appearance in almost every one of Ja’s controversies. This has prompted fans to accuse Pack of influencing Morant the wrong way. Davonte was also seen with Morant when he flashed a gun for the second time while live-streaming on Instagram.
After this incident took place, the Grizzlies star was suspended for 25 games and restricted from all team-related activities. Somewhere down the line, Morant also unfollowed Pack on every social media platform. Morant was also given severe punishments for his actions and negligence.
it’s 5L ♾️💯
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) September 12, 2023
While fans were happy that Morant severed ties with his controversial friend, the NBA star recently followed Pack on X once again. Fans also noticed that he liked a couple of Pack’s posts too.
In January 2024, a year after the incident, Davonte Pack made his way back to the FedEx Forum. He mentioned that he was ecstatic to witness the Grizzlies to play in person once again, although he would have loved to see them get the win against the Kings on that night.