The 17-year-old child was allegedly hit in the head by Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, who then allegedly brandished a gun at him and threatened a mall security officer last summer. 

The 23-year-old NBA player, who was sued in September, is said to have punched a teenage girl in Tennessee in the face during a pickup game. However, Morant maintains that he was defending himself.

The Washington Post has obtained new facts from police interviews, which show that the 17-year-old told Shelby County Sheriff’s Office detectives that the point guard punched him “12 to 13 times,” and that “four to five times” more were struck by Morant’s companion.

The boy said that as he was getting up to leave the altercation, Morant entered his residence and came out carrying a revolver. 

According to reports, Morant had his hand on the revolver and the handgun was visible through the waistband of his jeans.  

The plaintiff, a 17-year-old, stated that he and Morant got into a heated disagreement during pickup basketball, which quickly got out of hand. He acknowledges hurling a basketball towards Morant and ‘accidentally’ striking the 6-foot-2 guard in the face.

According to a police complaint prepared by deputies who said they saw the boy’s injuries, Morant and his companion allegedly retaliated by hitting the 17-year-old ‘with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground’ and left him with a ‘big knot’ on the side of his head.

The youngster was struck by another individual as Morant ‘kept sticking him while on the ground.’ The teenager likened the strikes to ‘an MMA bout.’

According to reports, Morant acknowledged hitting the 17-year-old, but he said authorities he did so out of self-defense. The former Murray State standout said that in addition, the plaintiff “made verbal threats” and threatened to “light [Morant’s] house up.”

“He and his family were put in fear by the statement,” Morant added.

Police mentioned the NBA star’s alleged “brandishing” of a gun in transcripts of their interview with him, but they did not question him whether it really happened. 

According to the documents, neither Morant nor his lawyers refuted the assertion at the time.

The plaintiff’s claims were looked into by the police for a few weeks before the matter was sent over to the district attorney’s office in October. Prosecutors, however, determined there was insufficient evidence to pursue a case. 

On January 3, TMZ revealed that the minor had sued Morant in September.  

Four days had apparently passed after the previous event, which had not been reported before, before the altercation. 

During an encounter in the parking lot last summer, Morant ‘threatened’ the head of security at a Memphis mall, according to The Post.

Following an altercation with a mall shoe store employee, Morant’s mother reportedly contacted her son, who showed up shortly after leading a group of “as many as nine people.”

When the director of mall security contacted Morant and his pals, they allegedly refused to leave the parking lot, according to the police report.

When the police showed up, there was allegedly a “verbal confrontation” that got out of hand before one of Morant’s people punched the security chief in the head. 

“As the party was departing the building… “Let me find out what time he gets off,” Ja Morant added, according to the police report.

According to authorities, the security chief felt frightened by Ja Morant’s statement and wanted to file a report. 

At the time, neither event was made public, and Morant continued to have a successful NBA season with the Grizzlies. 

Jim Tanner, Morant’s agent, described the accusations as coming from “people motivated to tear Ja down and tarnish his reputation for their own financial gain—unsubstantiated rumors and gossip.”