Ja Morant didn’t appear to be shying away from the latest accusations made against him on Thursday night.
The Memphis Grizzlies star celebrated teammate Desmond Bane’s three-point shot against the Houston Rockets with a finger-gun reaction — days after it was reported Morant flashed a gun at a teen he allegedly hit last summer.
Nether Morant nor the Grizzlies have publicly addressed the police report, published Wednesday by the Washington Post, which included a claim the 23-year-old All-Star “threatened” a mall security guard in a parking lot altercation in Memphis four days before his run-in with the teen.
Morant netted 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the 113-99 win over Houston on Thursday — his first game since the police reports were publicized.
The accusations are the latest in a string of troubling behavior attributed to the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
On Jan. 20, his father, Tee Morant, got into a dispute with ex-NFLer and Fox Sports host Shannon Sharpe that spilled over onto the court during a game against the Lakers.
In February, a member of Morant’s entourage was banned from Memphis’ FedExForum after the NBA investigated claims someone pointed a laser, potentially attached to a gun, at members of the Indiana Pacers traveling party.
This week, the Washington Post published a police report in which Morant’s crew got into it with the head of security at a Memphis mall, with the man saying he felt “threatened” and was shoved in a parking lot.
Morant was accused of ‘threatened’ a security guard and hitting a teen during a four-day stretch last summer. APNo arrests were made.
Four days after that incident, Morant purportedly struck a 17-year-old boy during a basketball game at his home, alleging the teen threw a ball at him to instigate the fight.
Read more of The Post’s coverage on Ja Morant’s suspension
The NBA star went into his home and returned with his hand on a gun visible in the waistband of his pants, per the police report.
Morant alleges the teen threatened to “come back and light this place up like fireworks.”
Morant celebrated a teammate’s basket by flashing finger guns. Bally Sports
Morant was also accused of brandishing a gun after an altercation with a teen at his home. Bally SportsThe boy is suing Morant over injuries sustained in the incident according to TMZ, in which Morant claimed self-defense.
“I swung first,” the NBA star told detectives, adding “The ball was to me the first hit.”
Morant’s behavior, coupled with the Grizzlies’ struggles — the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed is 7-10 in their last 17 games — has drawn stern rebukes from the likes of Sharpe and others.
“Ja, you’re going to have to move differently,” Sharpe said on Fox Sports’ “Undisputed” on Thursday. “You’re in a different stratosphere now. I just think he needs to conduct himself as a person that’s in that same stratosphere.”
‘”He portrays that he is like something that he is not … He’s hustling backwards … Ja, just move differently, bruh… I would never give you any advice on how to play basketball, but I would try to give you some advice on how to move. Let somebody else’s lesson be your lesson.”
“Ja there are a lot of lessons out there for you to learn without having to learn that same lesson through your own hardship, that’s all I would say to him.”
