NBA veteran Marcus Morris has had the fraud and theft charges against him dropped according to court documents obtained by KLAS 8 News Now. The 13-year veteran was arrested at a south Florida airport on July 27 and was charged with fraud for writing a check with insufficient funds to pay a gambling debt to two casinos in Las Vegas.
Morris was later released, and took to social media on July 30 to air his grievances in a since deleted Instagram post. He explained that he did take out a marker to gamble, which is a line of credit given by a casino, but that he had no intention of letting it go unpaid. Morris has since paid the debt owed in full to the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, and the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. The amount owed totaled $265,000, and stemmed from a 2024 line of credit given to the former lottery pick.
In the now deleted social media post, Morris shared how he was “blindsided” by the arrest, and detailed how he was held without bail, food or water for 51 hours.
“What hurt the most is I really was chained up and sitting in jail 24 hour locked down,” Morris wrote on Instagram. “Lesson learned. I’m not ducking or hiding from shit and most of you know that about me. Check the stats, never owed or needed money for anything. So did I go past the time I needed to repay, yeah probably did. Did I know they would lock me up? Hell no.”
Morris went on to explain how he’s taken out markers at casinos many times over the years and never had any issues.
“Did I take out a marker to gamble? Yes. Was this my first time? No,” Morris wrote. “I’ve been enjoying my off time and doing what I like every year at some point in Vegas at a high level for years and that’s not just gambling. I really thought the amount of money and time I spent there would really have value.”
Morris said in the post that he and his twin brother Markieff Morris plan on addressing the matter on a public platform at a later date. Morris is an unrestricted free agent, and last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2023-24 season.
