Ja Morant reportedly subpoenaed to testify in civil lawsuit over alleged assault of teenager
As Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant's return to the basketball court looms, so do his upcoming legal obligations.
The 24-year-old was issued a subpoena to appear at an immunity hearing for a civil lawsuit in Memphis, according to a Friday report from ESPN's Baxter Holmes.
Morant is being sued by Joshua Holloway, who told police that the point guard punched him 12 or 13 times during a pickup basketball game at Morant's home in July 2022. Holloway was 17 at the time. He claimed that Morant and a friend's strikes were so hard that a "large knot" formed on the side of his head, adding that Morant allegedly went into his home after the incident and came back outside with a gun.
At the hearing, which is reportedly scheduled to occur from Dec. 11 through Dec. 13, Morant's lawyers are expected to ask for the case to be dismissed and argue that Morant was defending himself because Holloway hit him in the chin with a basketball.
The former Rookie of the Year's lawyers previously attempted to get Holloway's case thrown out under Tennessee's "stand your ground" law, Holmes reported. If this month's dismissal attempt is unsuccessful, the trial could reportedly begin in April 2024.
Morant's upcoming testimony will be his first in the case. He filed a countersuit in April that alleged that the teenager slandered and assaulted Morant. As a result of the altercation, Morant's representation claims that Holloway endangered and damaged Morant's NBA career.
Holloway's allegations came during a flurry of issues for Morant. While details surrounding the alleged pickup game gone awry began to surface, Morant's name was also connected to an alleged verbal altercation at a shoe store and a reported postgame confrontation between Morant's friends and Indiana Pacers staffers. Most impactful was the incident in which Morant flashed a gun on Instagram Live at a Denver-area strip club, earning an eight-game NBA suspension.
Subpoenas were reportedly also issued for Morant's friend Davonte Pack, his father, Tee and mother, Jamie. All of them will reportedly be asked to appear and testify at the hearing this month, as they were witnesses to the altercation.
Four members of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office who investigated the altercation were also reportedly issued subpoenas. Memphis Police were accused of mishandling reports surrounding Morant in April. It's unclear if the officers who will testify are connected to those claims.
Morant is currently completing a 25-game NBA suspension after flashing a gun in another Instagram Live video this year. His forthcoming testimony will be entered into the record a week before he is eligible to rejoin the Grizzlies on Dec. 19.
