Ja Morant laughs off former NBA No. 1 pick claiming Tee Morant 'embarrassed' Grizzlies superstar

Tee Morant is a familiar presence when his son, Ja Morant, and the Memphis Grizzlies play at home. In a game against the OKC Thunder last week, Morant’s father was ejected in the fourth quarter. Memphis trailed 122-107 when the elder Morant was escorted off the floor by security.

On Friday, former NBA player Kenyon Martin, the No. 1 pick in the 2000 NBA draft, commented on the incident on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast:

"As a man, you are embarrassing your son," Martin said. "This ain't about you. Sit down and shut up. You are not the center of attention. Ja Morant is."

The Memphis Grizzlies franchise star responded to Martin’s comments with a laughing emoji on X (formerly Twitter).

Josh Tiven, the crew chief for the Grizzlies-Thunder game, explained the reason for Morant’s ejection:

“The fan continued to repeat overtly disrespectful statements about the integrity of the officiating crew, so as the Crew Chief, I approached security and asked that he be removed.”

Tiven added that Tee Morant made “very specific, overtly disrespectful comments ... about the integrity of the crew.”

According to Kenyon Martin, Tee Morant is held to a different standard because he is Ja Morant’s father. However, Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young strongly disagreed, arguing that referees should not enforce different standards for fans in the arena. Tiven also confirmed that he knew the identity of the fan he had ejected.

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Ja Morant discusses his father's ejection

Reporters asked Ja Morant in his postgame interview whether he knew the reason for his father’s ejection. The Grizzlies star responded:

"He probably got kicked out so I didn't [get ejected]. Probably complaining about something to the ref."

This wasn’t the first time a Morant had clashed with referees against the Thunder. In December 2022, Ja was ejected in the second quarter after receiving back-to-back technical fouls in the final minute of the period.

The athletic guard watched the rest of the game from the locker room, as the undermanned Thunder snapped Memphis' seven-game winning streak with a 115-109 victory. After the game, Morant called his father to ask him to let him speak to a superfan who had missed seeing him play in the second half.