MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A pickup basketball game at Ja Morant's parents' home near Memphis two summers ago quickly turned a day of fun, food, family and friends into chaos.
Under the hot July sun, the trash-talking escalated between the Memphis Grizzlies star and a local high school player who was friends with Morant's sister and had been guarding him that day, according to witnesses.
During a check-ball sequence to start a game, Joshua Holloway hurled a hard pass from in close that hit Morant in the face, leading Morant to punch the 17-year-old in the chin. Morant's childhood friend Davonte Pack then punched him again, knocking him to the ground, witnesses said. As Holloway was being escorted away, he said he was going to "light up" the place like "fireworks," according to people who were there.
On Wednesday, lawyers for Morant, 24, and Holloway, now 18, will return to court for a pretrial hearing in a lawsuit the teen filed against the mercurial player. Morant, who was not charged in the Holloway incident, is set to return Tuesday from a 25-game suspension that was levied against him last summer after he flashed a gun in two livestreamed videos. Pack, who was charged with misdemeanor assault before the charge was dropped, is also a defendant in the lawsuit, which seeks damages.
The civil case has provided an intimate look at Morant's life growing up in a small South Carolina town and the relationships he has built in his five years in Memphis, where he's toed the line between local hero and heavily scrutinized public figure. Court proceedings also have featured re-enactments by lawyers and witnesses of the confrontation, including basketball passes and simulated punches between Morant and Holloway's lawyer.
The hearing Wednesday is based on Morant's motion to dismiss the case because he says he was acting in self-defense under the state's so-called stand your ground law, which allows people who feel threatened at their homes to use force in certain situations. The law is used in criminal cases, but Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney's ruling last month cleared the way for Morant's lawyers to try to apply it in the civil case.
Morant's family has been hosting pickup games since he was a kid growing up in Dalzell, South Carolina. Morant's father, Tee, and mother, Jamie, would invite kids to play at their court, with Tee cooking postgame meals for everyone. Jamie Morant testified that the games provided a safe haven that kept young people off the streets.
Morant struggled to catch the eye of top college basketball programs, but he eventually caught on with Murray State, which he led to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before the Grizzlies drafted him second overall in 2019.
During opening statements, Morant's lawyer Will Perry challenged Holloway's credibility and cast the teen as the instigator.
Holloway's lawyer Rebecca Adelman, meanwhile, framed Morant as a "hero-worshipped" NBA superstar who suffers from a lack of self-control and receives special treatment because of his talent and fame. Referring to the NBA player's support network as a "fix-it team" and "Team Morant," Adelman said her client "lacks the influence and the affluence of this entire team."
Holloway was a friend of Morant's sister Teniya, who plays basketball at Mississippi Valley State University. She told the court that she first invited Holloway to play at her family's home and that he gained the family's trust through his respectful behavior, but that she now feels betrayed by him.
Holloway, who now plays at Samford University, attended one day of the hearing and has not testified.
Tee Morant testified that on the day of the altercation, he was urging Holloway to "go at Ja" on the court and that Holloway grew frustrated as the day wore on.
Holloway "was pissed," said Trey Draper, a basketball coach and former University of Memphis player who participated in some of the pickup games.
Morant and several other people testified that the fight stemmed from a check-ball situation, in which opponents pass the ball back and forth to signal they're ready to play at the start of a game or following made baskets or fouls.
After rolling the ball to each other, Morant said he threw a chest pass to Holloway, who threw a one-armed baseball pass back at his face. He said his hands were down and the ball hit him.
Morant and Holloway walked up to each other and stood chest to chest. Morant said Holloway bumped him in the chest, balled his fists and got into a fighting stance.
That's when Morant punched Holloway once. Witnesses differed on the strength of the punch, with one calling it merely a "chin check" but with Holloway's lawyers suggesting it was harder than that.
Former NBA player Mike Miller was watching the games that day. In a deposition, he and another witness described the pass as a chest pass, which is customary in check-ball situations.
"He checked it with a little bit of aggression," Miller said of Holloway. Miller called it a "high-intensity situation."
After Morant punched Holloway, Pack followed up with a single punch that knocked Holloway down. Players and spectators rushed to separate the combatants.
"It's chaos," Draper said.
Adelman asked Morant if he could have behaved differently.
"You could have pushed Joshua," Adelman said. "You could have talked to him; you could have mentored him."
Witnesses testified that Holloway said he was going to "light up" the place like fireworks as he was being led away.
"It sounded like he was going to shoot our house up," Teniya Morant said. Holloway never returned to the house, witnesses said.
The judge will decide if Morant's lawyers have fairly raised the self-defense argument. If she rules that they did, then Holloway's lawyers will have to prove that Morant can still be held liable.