Authorities arrested NBA veteran Marcus Morris at a South Florida airport on Sunday, jail records show. Morris was taken into custody on a fraud charge for a check made with insufficient funds, which his agent said is related to a casino debt. Morris is on an out-of-state hold, and he remains at Broward County Main Jail in Florida as he awaits extradition.
Agent Yony Noy said on social media that there is “zero fraud here” and called the arrest “absolute insanity.”
“Apparently if you have over $1,200 they can issue a warrant for your arrest,” Noy said, referencing Morris’ outstanding marker with a casino.
Morris’ twin brother, Markieff Morris, also took to social media Sunday evening to clear the air.
“The wording is crazy,” he said. “Damn, for that amount of money they’ll embarrass you in the airport with your family. They got y’all really thinking bro did some fraud shit. They could have came to the crib for all that. When y’all hear the real story on this shit, man. All I can say is Lesson learned. Bro will tell y’all tomorrow. This weird shit gave me a headache. Can’t stop nothin!”
This is not Morris’ first run-in with the law. He faced in 2012 battery charges for punching an employee at a bar in Lawrence, Kansas. He and his brother were later found not guilty in a 2015 aggravated assault case.
Morris is a free agent who last played in the NBA during the 2023-24 season. He signed with the New York Knicks ahead of the previous campaign, but the franchise waived him in late September and he did not land on a roster following his quick departure. Morris held stints with the Rockets, Suns, Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, Clippers, 76ers and Cavaliers in a career that spans more than a decade.
The Rockets made Morris a first-round pick in 2011, but it was not until his Pistons stint that he fully caught on as a lineup regular. He started 80 games in Detroit during the 2015-16 season and posted what were at the time career highs in nearly every statistical category. Morris peaked as a scorer during his half season with the Knicks in 2019-20, when he averaged 19.6 points per game across 43 starts.
Morris and his brother starred at Kansas, where he was the more prolific of the duo with his Big 12 Player of the Year selection and consensus second-team All-American honors in 2011. Kansas retired Morris’ No. 22 jersey after a stellar three-year career.