Tennessee authorities issued an arrest warrant for Davonte Pack, the longtime friend of Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant, for punching a teenager at Morant’s mansion last year, signaling a sudden reversal in the handling of a case that previously appeared closed with no charges.
But The Washington Post reported in April that police still virtually ignored Pack’s role in the altercation. Police cited affidavits given to them by Morant’s attorneys in which Pack was not named — but instead referred to only as “another participant” — and detectives told Morant that he didn’t have to share with them the name of the second man who punched the teen. In October, prosecutors declined to charge Morant, writing that there was “not sufficient admissible evidence,” and did not refer to Pack at all.
The Post previously reported that the case appeared to be reopened in recent months. Pack’s attorneys — who also represent Morant — did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that the warrant for Pack’s arrest had been issued, writing that it “will proceed to prosecute this case as we would any Simple Assault.”
Holloway’s attorneys, Rebecca Adelman and Leslie Ballin, said in a statement that there had been “an attempt to cover up the truth of what happened last July. Pack and Morant’s lawyers provided affidavits that were misleading and false in parts. … Today a warrant was issued for Pack based on information not originally provided” to police and prosecutors.
Holloway has an ongoing lawsuit against Morant and Pack. In deposition transcripts filed in court, Pack appeared to recently offer no legal justification for punching Holloway. He acknowledged that he could have “avoid[ed] the conflict" with Holloway over an aggressively checked ball.
Pack said during the pickup game, after Holloway hit Morant with the basketball, he got into “fight mode” with his fists up, which is when Morant and then Pack punched him to the ground. Holloway never “got a chance” to throw his own punch in the scuffle, Pack said. When asked if there was a reason he instead punched Holloway, Pack replied, “No, there’s really no reason.”
The impending arrest of Morant’s closest friend — who he has said is like a brother to him and who has lived in his Tennessee mansion — escalates a chaotic period for the point guard whose career has been derailed by a series of off-court incidents. In June, Morant was suspended for 25 games in the upcoming season after flashing an apparent gun as Pack broadcast him on Instagram, the second time in a matter of months that Morant had filmed himself on social media with a gun.
That was not the only time Pack, who grew up with Morant in South Carolina, has been central to controversies surrounding the superstar. Last year, he was banned from the Grizzlies’ home arena for a year after he stepped onto the court to shout at an Indiana Pacers player. Following that game, members of the Pacers’ traveling party reported fears that someone in Morant’s SUV had pointed a gun with a laser attached to it in the parking lot, which the NBA could not corroborate.
Morant and Pack’s lawyers have attempted to have Holloway’s lawsuit dismissed by arguing that Morant had immunity under Tennessee’s civil version of the “Stand Your Ground” laws. Morant “acted in self-defense,” they wrote, “after [Holloway] intentionally struck him in the face with a basketball.”
A judge in Shelby County Circuit Court heard from attorneys on both sides in a hearing Monday and is expected to rule on Morant’s motion Wednesday.