Arrest warrant issued for boyfriend of NBA star Ja Morant
MEMPHIS, Tennessee –
An arrest warrant has been issued for a close friend of Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant over a fight during a basketball game last year at the player’s home, authorities said.
Davonte Pack, whom Morant has referred to as “my brother,” has been charged with simple assault stemming from the July 2022 altercation in which a teenager says the All-Star guard and Pack hit him, the district attorney’s office said of Shelby County in a position.
Online records show that the warrant for Pack, 24, was issued Monday, the same day Morant’s lawyers argued in civil court that the teen’s lawsuit against Morant should be dismissed because he acted in self-defense after the teen threw a basketball at Morant had thrown and it hit. Morant in the chin.
Morant’s accuser was 17 when the lawsuit was filed. It charges Morant and Pack with assault, reckless endangerment, abuse or neglect, and inflicting emotional distress. An amended complaint identified the plaintiff as Joshua Holloway, who is now 18.
Morant filed a countersuit accusing Holloway of defamation, battery and assault.
No criminal charges have been filed against Morant. Lawyers defending Morant and Pack in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to calls and emails asking for comment on the injunction.
The NBA suspended Morant for 25 games when the upcoming season begins after a second video was posted online of him flashing a gun. The video of Morant showing a gun while in the passenger seat of a car was posted after he served an eight-game suspension in March for a video of him flashing a gun at a strip club near Denver.
Morant apologized for both incidents.
Morant’s actions were also investigated after a January 29 incident in Memphis that he said led to Pack being banned from home games for a year.
That incident followed a game against the Indiana Pacers. The Indianapolis Star and USA Today, citing unnamed sources, reported that several members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointing at them, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers guard thought the laser was attached to a gun.
The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena, but said the investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
Morant responded to that incident by tweeting that the reports “paint this negative picture on me and my family and banned my brother from home games for a year. Unbelievable.” During the January 29 game, there was barking between Pacers players and friends of Morant sitting on the sidelines. Pack was escorted out of the arena as Pacers bench players yelled at Pack.
