NBA Star Ja Morant Helps 11-Year-Old Whose Autographed Ball Was Stolen At Grizzlies Game

NBA star Ja Morant is trying to help an 11-year-old fan named Ellie whose autographed basketball was stolen from her at the Memphis Grizzlies game on Monday night. Ellie's mom, Lindsay Hughes, took to Facebook to tell her story, and after it caught some attention making headlines, Morant stepped in to try to help.

Lindsay started out her Facebook post explaining that she normally doesn't share things like this, but she's "livid." "My daughter (Ellie) has been a die-hard Grizzlies fan since she was 4/5 years old. She goes to EVERY single game with my father-in-law. When she goes to these games it is legit the highlight of her week & where her LOVE for basketball comes from & a special bonding time for her and her Gdaddy," she begins her story that captions photos of her daughter Ellie.

"Since she was 5 she has had a smaller size grizzly basketball that she has accumulated multiple player signatures & personalized notes written to her by the players. So tonight when she went to the game she took her ball as usual. While she was a couple seats down away from her assigned seat watching the players go back where they enter the court & cheering them on with other children/fans an older ADULT man with 3 kids & an ADULT woman decided that they would snatch Ellie’s basketball with all her signatures & notes from the players that was sitting with her jacket & other items while my FIL was turned around. when this was brought to Ellie & my FIL’s attention the kids, ADULT woman & the ADULT man took off running with her ball tucked under his jacket."

Her post continues explaining that security was notified but sadly they were not caught. Ellie is heartbroken and worked very hard over the years to get the signatures on that ball. "She has worked so hard over the years to get those signatures not to mention how hard those are to get bc the players, unfortunately, cannot sign & interact with every fan & she was so proud that she almost had all the players' signatures. yes we know the ball is replaceable but the experience of meeting players out of luck, getting signatures & persistence over the years is something she can’t get back," she continued.

Lindsay's anger could be felt in her words, and while she is trying to teach her daughter about being "the bigger person and trying to find the positive in this very unnecessary and hurtful situation," it doesn't stop the feeling of sadness they are experiencing.

Lindsay also included a message for the thieves. "You may have one of the most prized and meaningful things she has acquired but you will NEVER ruin her love for basketball or the Grizzlies and she will continue to go to games and ENJOY them even though your selfish actions have hurt her deeply," she explained. "She will get a new ball and start over but I hope you sleep well at night knowing what you did to an 11 yo and how despicable you truly are."

When Morant got wind of the situation, he took to Twitter to try to find the family so he could somehow help out. He retweeted the Action New 5 report of the situation and captioned it, "Do anybody know the family info?"

According to For the Win, Walter Murphy, the broadcaster whose news segment caught Morant's attention, replied to the NBA star saying that he would happily introduce him to Ellie's family.