Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant blew $50,000 and drooled over a stripper giving him a lap dance at the same strip club where he flashed a gun two days later, according to a report.
The NBA hotshot has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks with his latest controversy earning him a suspension for filming himself with a gun in a Colorado strip club on Instagram live on March 4.
It has now been revealed that the 23-year-old also attended the raunchy Shotgun Willie’s in Glendale, Colorado just 48 hours earlier and splashed the cash during the two-day bender.
The bad-boy baller was captured staring at the backside of a G-string-clad brunette stripper, according to the New York Post.
Morant reportedly dropped $50,000 in cash tips across his two-day revelry, covering every inch of the private VIP room he had hired in bank notes.
Grizzlies guard Ja Morant blew $50,000 and drooled over a stripper giving him a lap dance at Shotgun Willie’s on Match 2 – the same strip club where he flashed a gun two days later
Morant appeared to hold up a gun in an Instagram Live video in the early hours of March 4
‘The whole room is full of money — it’s literally a pile. You’d need a rake,’ a source who witnessed the raunchy display told The Post.
While one dancer is said to have recalled her colleague saying that it ‘took forever to count.’
Morant arrived at Shotgun Willie’s with a friend and two security guards around 1:30am, just eighty minutes after the Grizzlies’ team plane had touched down in Denver, according to the inside source.
Memphis had jetted in from its 113-99 thrashing of the Houston Rockets and Morant clearly wanted to celebrate by cashing out ‘at least $900 to book the space for three hours.’
The scandalized star is said to have snuck into the VIP room through the backdoor.
‘He was there to party, he wanted some girls in the room,’ the insider said. ‘The music was very, very gangster.’
While at the strip joint, Morant seems to have kept himself more than entertained. He reportedly paid for four dancers and a feast of food, including ‘a basket of hickory-smoked wings, two platters of chicken strips and fries, and a steak.’
He reportedly hit up the club for a second time following the Grizzlies’ thumping 113-97 defeat to the Nuggets.
The NBA star is said to have cashed out at least $900 to hire out the club’s VIP room
Morant is a huge name in the NBA but has been involved in a series of different controversies
After recording 23 points in the loss, Morant headed straight for Shotgun Willie’s in the early hours of March 4 when he, now infamously, filmed himself posing topless dangling a gun in front of the camera and belted the lyrics to ‘Bring ‘Em Out’ by the rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
Deborah Dunafon, 72, the majority owner of Shotgun Willie’s claimed Morant had been ‘respectful’ and ‘marvelous’.
‘This kid, real young, was exceptionally respectful, and sweet and he did not drink [on his second visit],’ Dunafon said. ‘We’ve had [Denver] Nuggets and Broncos … come in and pitch quarters at the girls, be disrespectful and nasty. He’s marvelous.’
However, one dancer, who reportedly wasn’t in the backroom but heard reports of the incident from her colleagues, said that the gun ‘absolutely terrified’ the girls in the private room.
She said Morant ‘pulled the white boy excuse card,’ by claiming that he was ‘going through a lot.’
Dunafon said that she and police reviewed the security footage of the incident and claimed that ‘nobody saw a gun.’
Morant was investigated by Glendale Police over the incident but was not charged him with a crime.
Although he faces no charges from the police, Morant could still face further punishment from the NBA.
In the aftermath of the video’s release, Morant was suspended for two games by the Grizzlies. He later revealed that he would be ‘taking some time away’ from the team.
Morant released a statement apologizing to his family, teammates and fans for his actions
After being suspended by the team for his actions, Morant announced he was taking time away
Morant has been involved in four alleged gun-related incidents in recent months, with the strip club video just the latest in a string of controversies.
He was sued in September for allegedly punching a Tennessee teenager in the face during a pickup game, something the NBA star claims was in self defense.
New details from police interviews obtained by The Washington Post revealed that the 17-year-old told detectives from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office that the point guard hit him ’12 to 13 times,’ adding that Morant’s friend struck him an additional ‘four to five times.’
The teenager claimed that as he got up to leave after the fight Morant went into his house and re-emerged with a gun.
In a baffling incident just days after the report was released, Morant courted yet more controversy – this time at an NBA game – when he performed a gun celebration after watching a teammate shoot a three-pointer.
Furthermore, there was an unsavory incident following the Grizzlies’ game with the Pacers on January 29, when acquaintances of Ja Morant ‘aggressively confronted’ members of Indiana‘s traveling party – and pointed a red laser at them.
The Athletic said that Morant was riding with friend Davonte Pack and one other person in an SUV when a red laser was pointed at the Pacers bus.
Two people who spoke to the publication anonymously said they believed the laser was attached to a gun, while an Indiana security guard nearby claimed ‘that’s 100 percent a gun.’ However, it has not been confirmed it the laser was attached to a weapon.
