Ja Morant’s parents are Temetrius “Tee” Morant and Jamie Morant. Tee is a retired barber who took up the profession to support his young family when Jamie got pregnant. He is also a basketball coach for a team of young kids in the neighborhood. Morant’s mother’s profession, on the other hand, is not known, but she spends most of her time now supporting her children’s careers.
Ja Morant’s parents have been together for more than two decades, and they currently stay next door to their son, after having received their home as a gift from him for being such good role models and parents. Morant grew up playing basketball with his sister in their backyard, and she is closely following in his footsteps and on her way to becoming a professional basketball player as well.
Who is Ja Morant’s Father, Tee Morant?
The first of Ja Morant’s parents’ is his father, known simply as Tee Morant, with his real name being Temetrius Jamel Morant. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States of America, sometime in 1978. His father’s name has never been mentioned, but he is believed to be a businessman who provided a middle-income life for his family.
Tee Morant’s mother’s name, on the other hand, is Saundra E. Dawson, and she attended Hillcrest High School in the United States. She was a healthcare worker who worked at Prisma Health Tourney Hospital, though we do not know the exact capacity she worked in.
Tee Morant is said to have attended the same high school with NBA professional basketball player Ray Allen, and he went to Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in the United States of America – a predominantly black private university. He played basketball as an amateur for the university and was on his way to the big leagues before he had to make a monumental decision that altered the course of his life.
Tee actually went to a basketball camp where scouts sourced for raw talents, and though he was a very good player himself, his hopes were dashed when the organizers of the camp said that they were only recruiting players that were only 6 feet tall and above.
As Tee was still striving to achieve his dream of becoming a professional basketball player, his girlfriend at the time, Jamie, became pregnant, and being a well-brought-up child, he decided to take the very hard decision to abandon his lifelong dream and pick up a job to support himself, the girlfriend and their unborn child.
He must have had a fallout with his father, who was very comfortable after his girlfriend got pregnant, as he didn’t seem to get any financial support from him. He became a barber’s apprentice at this point, and after learning the craft, he became a professional barber to support his family.
When his son, Ja Morant, came of age, he was the one that passed on his dream to play basketball to him, and he even went as far as purchasing old tractor tires so that he could teach his son basic moves such as the step back jump shots and to land on the soft tire sidewall. He spent most of his spare time teaching his son how to play basketball in their backyard, and as time went on, he took his son to his coach and mentor in college to help further develop his son’s fledgling skills and career.
Tee Morant is always seen at his son’s basketball games not to only cheer him on but also to offer advice from his vantage seating position courtside. He has always been very supportive of his son both on and off the court. When the young Morant’s ways seemed to be slipping – due to some controversial events in his life, his father was on hand to guide his son back on to the right path. He was very lavish with his praise when the community applauded his son on his return from suspension following a gun-waving controversy he was involved in at a strip club.
Meet Ja Morant’s Mother, Jamie Morant
The other vital half of Ja Morant’s parents’ is his super supportive mother, Jamie Morant. Jamie was born on December 20, 1975, in Sumter, North Carolina, in the United States of America. Unfortunately, there is no information about her parents in the public space, and we do not know if she had any siblings at all or if she grew up as the only child of her parents.
Jamie also contributed significantly to the sporting gene pool of her son, Ja Morant, as she was also into sports. She was reported to have played as a basketball point guard at Harlem High School. She also played softball while in college and is believed to have graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Claflin University – which probably was where she met Tee Morant.
While Ja Morant’s father worked on passing on his basketball skills to his son, Jamie Morant also showed her son a thing or two about the beautiful sport of basketball that they all loved. Jamie concentrated more on helping to build his mental capacity and ability to deal with any situation and opponents on the court.
As Ja Morant was not always the biggest or tallest boy on the court most times, he would often tell his mother that he was not really worried about the bigger kids when they discussed his day on the court.
Jamie would always encourage her son by telling him to have the mentality that he was beneath no one, and that he should focus on his game and his team. Jamie’s words of encouragement had such a profound effect on her son’s mentality that he tat-toed the words “beneath no one” on his arm to remind him of his mother’s words whenever he faced bigger opponents. Jamie supports her son all the way, and she would be at most of his games, encouraging him always to give his best on the court.
Ja Morant Parent’s Have Been Married For More Than Two Decades
Ja Morant’s parents have been together for almost two and half decades, and their love for each other at the beginning does not seem to have waned at all over the years. They both went to Claflin University, and both played basketball for their school, so the game they both loved probably brought them together.
While they were still in the university, Jamie got pregnant sometime in November 1998, and Tee had to do what a responsible man has to do in such a situation – stand up to his responsibilities and be a man. The exact date of their marriage is not common knowledge as they were both unknown and not celebrities at all.
They gave birth to Ja Morant on August 10, 1999, in Dalzell, South Carolina in the United States of America, and showered all the love new parents do on their kid on him. The couple was blessed with a daughter on February 10, 2005, and they named her Teniya “’Niya” Morant. As both kids grew up in the household, their parents taught them the very basic basketball skills in their backyard, and both kids are now involved in the game either professionally or at amateur levels, respectively. Teniya is currently a senior at Houston High School.
Ja Morant always talks about his parent’s influence not only on his career but also on his person. They both helped nurture him into the young basketball star that he is becoming presently, and little wonder why he decided to buy a mansion right next to his for his parents, probably as a reward for all that they have done for him and his sister. His parents are still living next door to him to continue to look out for him and always be there for him.
Ja Morant’s Dad and Usher’s Relationship
On the face of it, one would have to assume that it seems as if Tee Morant and international music star Usher seem to have a very cordial relationship. What happened was that sometime in April 2022, during the game between the Memphis Grizzlies (Ja Morant’s team) and the Minnesota Timberwolves, the famous musician Usher – who happens to love watching basketball too and is a stakeholder in the game, was sitting next to Tee Morant courtside.
During the break when the Cam look-alike session played on the Jumbo screen, they were showing the pictures of some look-alikes in the stands, and when they flashed Usher’s image on the screen, Tee Morant – who happened to be sitting right next to Usher, was shown as the super star’s look-alike.
The whole arena applauded this coincidence, and the two gentlemen looked at each other, wondering what the fuss was about. When they realized what was being shown on the screen, they simply looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and shook hands in a very brotherly manner.
This got folks talking afterward, with some wondering if Usher and Tee Morant were somehow related. At the event earlier, both men wore the same sunshades, black T-shirts, and had the same style of beards.
Some began to speculate if Tee Morant was Usher’s uncle or some other close relative due to the striking resemblance of both men. Actually, both men are not related by blood, but sure the incident of that day would have brought both men closer to each other based on their striking resemblance alone.