Memphis Grizzlies basketball player Ja Morant has filed a motion to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him, citing self-defense during a summer 2022 basketball pickup game. 

The motion, filed Monday, June 26, 2023, argues that then-high school basketball player Joshua Holloway intentionally threw the ball at Morant’s face.

Deposition: Ja Morant’s friend recounts pickup game fight

Morant’s lawyers suggest the Grizzlies’ star point guard is immune under Tennessee’s self-defense immunity statute. They argue the statute grants Morant immunity in the suit based on his use of self-defense. They also argue that he is entitled to an expedited hearing on the motion and that the case should immediately be dismissed.

The motion also asks for Morant to be awarded damages including court costs and attorneys fees from the lawsuit.

“(Ja) did not hit Plaintiff hard enough to knock him down, acting only in self-defense. Other people at the pickup game separated Plaintiff and Mr. Morant almost immediately and escorted Plaintiff off the property,” the motion reads.

In additional Shelby County Circuit Court filings, Ja Morant’s father and additional witnesses provide further accounts of the fight that occurred between the Grizzlies star and the local high school player during a pickup game last summer.

In the latest round of depositions filed June 27, Ja Morant’s father, Tee Morant, testified that the Morant family chose to report alleged threats made by Holloway 13 days after the fight because Ja Morant had since received subsequent threats on social media. 

Memphis Grizzlies: Zach Kleiman talks Ja Morant suspension, draft picks, trade

“They said there was all kinds of threats,” Tee Morant told Holloway’s attorney, Rebecca Adelman, in the deposition. “That Ja better not get caught in the city because Penny can’t save him and all that. He done — he done touched one of the family members, talking about Ja. Yeah. So I don’t know.”

Other depositions filed on June 27 or prior include former Grizzlies player Mike Miller and Donte White, an assistant girl’s basketball coach at Arlington. 

The depositions were prompted by a civil lawsuit initiated by Holloway following a fight that took place on July 26, 2022, in Eads, Tennessee. Morant has since countersued Holloway. 

Miller’s deposition, taken June 6, is similar to a previously reported deposition of Morant’s childhood friend Davonte Pack. Miller brushes the altercation off as if it was not a big deal. 

Like Pack, Miller described Holloway throwing a ball and hitting Morant in the mouth as a catalyst for the altercation. He testified that the fight “de-escalated quick – kind of quick.”

Herrington: Ja Morant remains most important part of Grizzlies’ serious summer

“Right or wrong, I have seen that play out a million times like this on a basketball court,” Miller said during the deposition. 

When asked by Adelman if he believed it was OK for Ja Morant to punch Holloway, Tee Morant responded with one word in the deposition: “Retaliate.”

Tee Morant testified that he did not see the fight happen because he was in the house cooking when it occurred. He also testified that he spoke to Holloway’s mother, Myca Holloway, over the phone the night of the fight, but ended the conversation because it started getting “a little too aggressive.”

Both Tee Morant and Mike Miller corroborated Pack’s deposition that Holloway said something about fireworks while leaving the house. 

“I’m going to light this (expletive) up like the 4th of July,” Tee Morant recalled Holloway saying. 

Teen suing Ja Morant asks to find sheriff’s office in contempt

Holloway told police that after the fight, Morant emerged from the house with a gun.

White testified he saw Morant exit the house, but that he did not see him with a firearm. Miller also testified that he did not see Morant with a firearm that day.