Judge dismisses lawsuit against Grizzlies’ Ja Morant stemming from fight with teenager during pickup game

A judge in Memphis, Tennessee, dismissed a civil lawsuit against Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant on Monday, according to The Associated Press. The lawsuit stems from an altercation that took place at Morant’s house in July 2022 in which Joshua Holloway, who was 17 at the time, claimed that Morant punched him during a game of pickup basketball.

Holloway was at Morant’s house playing pickup basketball when the teenager checked the ball and, as it slipped through Morant’s hands, hit the Grizzlies star on the chin. Holloway alleged that Morant and his friend Davonte Pack repeatedly hit Holloway even after he had fallen to the ground. Pack was arrested for misdemeanor assault for the incident, but the charge was later dismissed.

Morant testified in December 2023 that he acted in self-defense, saying Holloway first threw a basketball at him which hit the Grizzlies star in the face. In April 2024, a judge then ruled that Morant “enjoys a presumption of civil immunity,” under Tennessee law, stating that Morant’s claim of self-defense was credible enough to shift the burden of proof to Holloway to prove that Morant was not acting in self-defense, but was rather assaulting Holloway.

Holloway testified in January 2025, saying Morant was the aggressor and that the Grizzlies star used “disproportionate force” when attacking him. However, Shelby County Circuit Judge Carol Chumney ruled Monday that “Holloway’s testimony wasn’t credible or consistent with testimony from other witnesses.” 

One of the witness testimonies that carried weight in this ruling was former NBA player Mike Miller who was at Morant’s house during the time of the altercation. Miller said in his testimony that Holloway hitting Morant with a basketball “kind of started everything.”

As a result, Chumney ordered for the lawsuit to be dismissed on Monday, ruling that Morant was indeed acting in self-defense and was immune from liability in the lawsuit.

“This Court sincerely hopes that moving forward they each will be able to spend more of their time on the ‘court’ and less at the ‘courthouse,'” Chumney wrote in the ruling.

It brings to an end a lengthy ordeal in which Morant countersued Holloway, claiming he was the victim of slander, battery and assault. In Morant’s countersuit, he alleged that Holloway, among other things, intentionally threw a basketball at his face, walked aggressively toward Morant with his fists clenched as if he were about to hit him, threatened to return to Morant’s house and light it up “like a a firework show” as he left and lied to police about Morant flashing a gun. 

The status of Morant’s countersuit is unclear.