Ja Morant the Memphis player burglarized by group targeting pro athletes, report says

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball against the San Antonio Spurs in the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two-time NBA All-Star Ja Morant is the Memphis Grizzlies player whose home was burglarized by the seven men from Chile charged in federal court with orchestrating break-ins at the homes of prominent professional athletes around the country, according to a published report.

The Daily Memphian reported Thursday that a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation confirmed Morant was “Professional Athlete 6” identified in an FBI complaint filed Jan. 30 in Tampa, Florida.

A spokeswoman for the Grizzlies declined to comment when asked by The Associated Press if Morant was the player whose home was targeted. The Grizzlies play at the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night in their first game since the All-Star break.

The FBI complaint doesn’t name the athletes and only lists burglaries already made public involving the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, and players for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NBA’s Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks.

According to the complaint, the Grizzlies player’s home was burglarized sometime after 4 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2024. The Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors 144-93 that night in Memphis. The burglars stole “jewelry, watches and luxury bags valued” at about $1 million, according to the complaint.

A spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a reported burglary Dec. 20 at a home in an unincorporated part of the county. Deputies declined to release the name of the player or the address during an active investigation.

Some of the men were arrested in January after a traffic stop in Ohio on state charges for allegedly breaking into the home of Burrow, the Bengals’ quarterback. In that case, four of the men were found to be in the country illegally, according to a court affidavit filed in Clark County, Ohio. The men took photos of themselves with some of the loot. The groups often separated into smaller units to commit multiple burglaries, according to the FBI.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

The Associated Press