Tee Morant has once again created a spectacle.
During the Memphis Grizzlies’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, Tee, the outspoken father of Grizzlies star Ja Morant, got ejected from his courtside seat. In the second half with the Thunder up big, Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian reported that Tee was escorted off the floor by FedEx Forum security and could be seen smiling as he walked off.
Details emerged on Tee’s ejection after the game, which OKC won 125-112. Referee crew chief Josh Tiven said in the pool report that Tee made “very specific” and “overtly disrespectful” comments about “the integrity of the [officiating] crew.” Tiven further added that he himself approached arena security to ask for Tee to be removed and said that he was aware it was Ja Morant’s father.
Pool report about Tee Morant getting ejected from the Thunder Grizzlies game pic.twitter.com/RnVn8GksV1
— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) February 9, 2025
Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported that Tee yelled “The fix is in!” from his courtside seat immediately before being ejected.
Meanwhile, Hill notes that Ja Morant has history with Ray Acosta, one of the other referees who was working Saturday’s Grizzlies-Thunder game. Acosta was the referee responsible for a controversial ejection of Ja from a game in Dec. 2022 (also coincidentally against the Thunder). The two-time NBA All-Star Ja was bizarrely ejected from that game for saying something to a fan sitting courtside and had his back turned to Acosta when Acosta ejected him (video here).
As for Tee, he has been a constant presence sitting courtside, especially at Grizzlies home games, ever since his son was drafted in 2019. But Tee has also been involved in multiple verbal confrontations during games, and he can now add actually getting ejected from a game to his bingo card.
