Lawyers for a teenager suing two-time NBA All-Star Ja Morant over a brawl during an offseason pickup game can withdraw from the case after alleging irreconcilable differences with their client, a Tennessee court determined Friday.
Rebecca Adelman and Leslie Ballin had filed a motion in Shelby County Circuit Court requesting that a judge allow them to withdraw from Joshua Holloway’s lawsuit against Morant, who hosted a daylong series of pickup games at his parents’ home in July 2022 that ended with the Memphis Grizzlies guard punching the then-17-year-old Holloway once in the face.
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Judge Carol Chumney approved the request at a brief hearing on Friday. Adelman did not specify the nature of the conflicts, instead stating in court that she was unable to use her “legal judgment” in support of Holloway. The judge allowed Holloway’s parents 30 days to provide the court with information on a new lawyer.
Holloway’s mother, Myca Clay, said she was looking for new representation for her son, who plays college basketball at Samford. After the hearing, Clay expressed her unwillingness to resolve the September 2022 case and her disagreement with the portrayal of her son by his lawyers.
“I’m simply trying to get justice for my son,” Clay told reporters.
The attorneys left the case roughly three weeks after Chumney decided that Morant “enjoys a presumption of civil immunity” from liability under Tennessee law. Morant claims he assaulted Holloway in self-defense after the adolescent hurled a basketball at him, striking the NBA player in the face.
At a December hearing, Morant testified that the adolescent bumped him in the chest, balled his fists, and assumed a fighting posture before punching Holloway, raising concerns about potential injuries.
The NBA player’s lawyers have argued that Morant is protected by Tennessee’s “stand your ground” rule, which permits people who feel attacked at home to use force in certain circumstances. Criminal cases utilize the statute, but a previous judge’s order permitted Morant’s lawyers to apply it in civil cases.
A trial was scheduled for April but has been postponed indefinitely.
In early January, Morant tore the labrum in his right shoulder, necessitating surgery and ending a season that began with the NBA suspending Morant for the first 25 games after a video of the guard flashing a weapon surfaced online.
After Morant served his eight-game suspension in March for flashing a pistol in a Denver-area strip club, someone posted a video of him sitting in the passenger seat of a car.
Morant apologized for the two videos.
