He was falling for more than money.
Memphis Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant dribbled and drooled over a stripper at the same Denver-area jiggle joint where he blew $50,000 in tips — and flashed a gun 48 hours later — according to shocking photos obtained by the Post. and internal disclosures.
New photos from March 2 show the bad-boy baller at Rongatable Shotgun Willy’s in Glendale, CO, walking on his lap in the VIP room by the backboard of a G-string-clad brunette — and nearly every inch of surface covered in cash. was .
“The whole room is full of money — it’s literally a pile. You’ll need a rack,” according to a club insider who witnessed the eye-popping hardwood scene.
The 23-year-old point guard, who re-signed with the Grizzlies last year to a 5-year extension deal that could be worth up to $231 million, tipped at least $50,000 in cash over the two-night booty bender. , two employees told The Post.
“It took forever to count,” one dancer recalled of his colleague.
Club insiders said Morant arrived at Shotgun Willies with a friend and two security guards around 1:30 a.m., hours after the Grizzlies swept the Rockets in Houston, 113-99.
Eighty minutes after the team plane touched down In Denver, the Memphis hotshot slipped through the back of the club to enter the VIP room, where he plunked down at least $900 to book space for three hours. Rates per club websitesources said.
“He was there to party, he wanted some girls in the room,” the insider said. “The music was very, very gangster.”
At the club, Grizzly turns horndog, pays for four dancers and bottle service, and indulges in a Jersey-busting spread of food that includes a basket of hickory-smoked wings, chicken strips and two platters of fries, and A precise, interior and according to the photos.
“It’s a little overwhelming, but usually too much is happening all the time,” the insider quipped.
Two days later, Morant returned. After Morant racked up 23 points in a 113-97 win over Memphis in Denver, he pulled off a fast break for the shotgun Willies in the early hours of Saturday, March 4.
This time he broadcast himself on Instagram Live as he brandished a gun and belted out the lyrics to “Bring ‘Em Out” by rapper Youngboy Never Broke Again.
Shotgun Willys majority owner Deborah Dunafon confirmed that Morant was a repeat customer on March 2 and 4.
“This kid, real young, was incredibly respectful and sweet and he didn’t drink [on his second visit]” Dunafon, 72, said. “We have [Denver] The Nuggets and the Broncos … come in and pitch quarters at the girls, insulting and obnoxious. He is wonderful. “…
The gun, however, “absolutely scared” the shotgun girls in the backroom, claimed a dancer who was not in the VIP room but heard her colleagues’ complaints.
“He pulled the white boy excuse card: ‘I’m going through a lot right now, so I’m going to work. [like] An idiot and put other people’s lives at risk,’ ” he said.
Dunafon said he and police reviewed security footage from Morant’s now-infamous second night, and claimed “nobody saw a gun.”
And Glendale police said they investigated Morant but determined there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him with a crime.
Yet after a public firestorm over the gun’s livestream, Morant apologized to his team and the public for his actions.
The Grizzlies announced hours after the social media debacle that Morant would miss two games, which was later extended to include an additional four games. The NBA is investigating Morant and could suspend him longer if it is found he was carrying a weapon on team premises.
“Our investigation is ongoing,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said Saturday.
The Instagram misfiring is the latest in a series of off-court troubles to derail the two-time All-Star’s big rise in the league.
Days before the gun incident, Morant was the subject of a Washington Post report on two violent incidents he was allegedly involved in last summer.
A 17-year-old filed a lawsuit against Morant after he and a friend allegedly beat the youth more than a dozen times during a pickup game last July, before the hot shot went in and appeared in his waistband. Wally returned with a gun.
Morant told a detective that the youth had hit him in the head with a ball earlier, so he was acting in self-defense.
“I swung first,” Morant told law enforcement, “the ball was my first hit.”
Also in July, Morant was also charged with threatening the head of security at a Memphis mall.
Morant’s agent, Jim Tanner, told The Washington Post said the allegations were “baseless rumors and gossip”.
In February, the NBA investigated allegations by the Indiana Pacers that Morant’s crew “aggressively confronted” members of the team’s traveling party and pointed a red laser at them, which they believe that was connected to a gun.
The league could not confirm any evidence that Morant’s associates threatened anyone with a weapon. Morant’s best friend, Devontae Pack, who was involved in the altercation, was banned from the Grizzlies’ FedExForum for the rest of the season.
Morant’s agent and lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. The Grizzlies did not respond to requests for comment.
