Morant’s Father Rooting For Jazz After Support Following Fan Abuse

Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies and Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz look on during Round 1, Game 5 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs

On May 26, the Utah Jazz defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 2 of their first round NBA Western Conference Playoffs series.

During the game, Memphis guard Ja Morant’s parents were the targets of racial abuse and sexually explicit remarks from a group of Jazz fans. As a result, three people were hit with indefinite bans from Vivint Arena.

In an interview with ESPN, Ja’s father, Tee Morant, said the fans’ comments went “beyond heckling” and was “straight up disrespectful.”

The Grizzlies guard added, “my family should be able [to] cheer for me & my teammates without getting inappropriate s— said to them.”

The incident was an especially bleak moment in a Playoffs marred by bad fan behavior, including a fan dumping popcorn on Russell Westbrook in Philadelphia, another spitting on Trae Young in New York, Kyrie Irving having a water bottle thrown at him in Boston, and a fan running onto the court in Washington.

The following day, the Jazz released a statement, saying “We apologize to all who were impacted by this unfortunate incident and condemn unacceptable fan behavior.”

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