The last thing Ja Morant needed was more trouble with the NBA and the law and luckily, a judge ruled in his favor this week.
Shelby County Circuit Judge Carol Chumney ruled on Monday that the Grizzlies star fairly raised self-defense in a lawsuit filed by a teenager he punched in July 2022.
Morant had previously testified that he “swung first” during an altercation at his Memphis home with 17-year-old Joshua Holloway.
Holloway allegedly got frustrated during a pickup game with Morant and threw a basketball in Morant’s face, so Ja and his friend Davonte Pack punched the teenager.
Chumney ruled that Morant “enjoys a presumption of civil immunity” in Tennessee’s self-defense regulations, which qualifies as a win on Morant’s part, ESPN reports.
Civil immunity shifts the burden of proof to the plaintiff to prove that Morant did not act in self-defense, rather than Morant having to prove that he did.
“We’re disappointed, and we will continue to take the steps necessary to protect and advocate for Joshua,” Holloway’s attorney, Rebecca Adelman, told ESPN.
Ja’s friend Pack was also charged with misdemeanor assault over the incident, but the charges were later dropped.
The lawsuit came at the worst possible time for the Grizzlies star, who served a 25-game suspension at the start of the season due to two incidents were he brandished a gun.
His conduct was deemed detrimental to the league.
The 24-year-old then made his return for all of nine games before he sustained a subluxation in his shoulder during a training session.
He suffered a labral tear and has missed the remainder of the NBA season while he recovers from surgery.