Ja Morant’s father, Tee Morant, was asked to leave the building in the closing minutes of the Memphis Grizzlies' 125-112 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
“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,” crew chief Josh Tiven told a pool reporter. “There were very specific, overtly disrespectful comments made about the integrity of the crew.”
Tiven said he was aware the fan being ejected was Ja Morant's father.
Tee Morant was sitting in a courtside seat when security walked up to his seat. He was escorted from the floor with 2:10 left and the Thunder up 122-107.
“He probably got kicked out, so I didn't,” Ja Morant said after the game. “Probably complaining about something to the ref.”
Asked if he or any of his players requested Ja Morant's father be removed, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said: “Not to my knowledge. No.”
Ja Morant had 16 points in the game, going 6 of 19 from the floor, and added seven assists.
“I kind of knew it because (one official) started getting mad when I asked him a question, and didn't want to talk,” the younger Morant said. “But we ain't gonna go there.”
This is not the first time a member of Morant's entourage has been kept from Grizzlies home game. Morant's friend Davonte Pack was prohibited from attending games for a year after a Jan. 29, 2023, incident when he confronted members of the Indiana Pacers during the game from his seat along the sidelines.
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FILE - Tee Morant, left, father of NBA player Ja Morant, and Mike Miller, right, walk along the sideline in the first half of an NBA basketball game between the Indiana Pacers and the Memphis Grizzlies, Dec. 1, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill, File)
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Tuesday, with Chinese markets retreating, following a broad rally on Wall Street fueled by hopes the Trump administration may take a more targeted approach as it tees up a new round of tariffs on imported goods next week.
U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices were little changed.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.5% to 37,780.54, while the Kospi in South Korea lost 0.6% to 2,615.81.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 2.1% to 23,402.56 as heavy selling of tech-related shares pulled the benchmark lower.
Cell phone maker Xiaomi's Hong Kong-traded shares dropped 5.9% and delivery app company Meituan lost 4.2%. E-commerce giant Alibaba was down 3.5%.
The Shanghai Composite index was unchanged at 3,369.98.
Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.8% and the SET in Thailand lost 0.5%.
Stocks have been riding waves of hope and worry as President Donald Trump has announced and then amended plans on higher tariffs. A new round of tariffs is scheduled for April 2, but Trump has been somewhat closely guarded about his plans, saying Monday that even though he wants to charge “reciprocal” rates — import taxes to match the rates charged by other countries -- that “we might be even nicer than that.”
Other comments have provided less reassurance and in recent days, Chinese markets that had been riding high have pulled back. In a Truth Social post, Trump said Venezuela has been “very hostile” to the U.S. and countries purchasing its oil will be forced to pay a 25% tariff on all exports to the U.S. starting April 2.
That would likely more than double the already high tariffs facing China, which in 2023 bought 68% of the oil exported by Venezuela, according to a 2024 analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. also imports oil from Venezuela.
On Monday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.8%. to 5,767.57, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4% to 42,583.32. The Nasdaq composite closed 2.3% higher, at 18,188.59.
Despite the gains, the benchmark S&P 500 has lost 1.9% so far this year out of concerns that a trade war could hinder economic growth and increase inflationary pressures.
Gains on Monday were broad, with 84% of stocks within the S&P 500 ending higher. Nearly every sector within the index rose.
Technology stocks helped lead the way. The stocks are among the most valuable on Wall Street and tend to have an outsized impact on the broader market's direction.
Nvidia rose 3.2% and Apple added 1.1%.
Tesla climbed 11.9% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. The electric vehicle maker is still down about 31% for the year.
Wall Street has several economic updates this week. Business group The Conference Board releases its consumer confidence survey for March on Tuesday. On Friday, the U.S. government releases the personal consumption expenditures price index for February, a measure of inflation closely watched by the Federal Reserve.
The Fed started cutting its benchmark interest rate at the end of 2024 but is cautious about inflation, which is just above its 2% goal. Those cuts came after the central bank raised interest rates in order to cool inflation from a two-decade high.
Lower interest rates can ease borrowing costs and help give the economy a boost, but they can also push inflation higher.
In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 13 cents to $69.24 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 13 cents, to $72.50 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 150.59 Japanese yen from 150.70 yen. The euro rose to $1.0803 from $1.0802.
Financial information is displayed on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Financial information is displayed on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The display board with the Dax curve in the trading hall of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Arne Dedert/dpa/dpa via AP)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
