Tee Morant, the father of Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant, was ejected with 2:10 remaining in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game between Memphis and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Crew chief Josh Tiven told Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian following the Thunder's 125–112 win that Tee Morant made "disrespectful" comments about the officiating crew.
"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," Tiven said in the report.
The veteran NBA official said he was aware that Morant was the father of the Grizzlies All-Star guard.
Pool report about Tee Morant getting ejected from the Thunder Grizzlies game pic.twitter.com/RnVn8GksV1
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A source told ESPN's Tim MacMahon that Morant allegedly yelled, "The fix is in!" before he was ejected and escorted by security from his courtside seat at FedExForum.
It's not clear what prompted Morant to make such a comment, or any of those that the crew chief determined he had made.
After the game, Ja Morant was asked why he thought his father was ejected.
"He probably got kicked out, so I didn’t," he said, via The Associated Press. "Probably complaining about something to the ref."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA Official Explains Why Tee Morant Was Ejected During Grizzlies-Thunder Game .
