AUBURN HILLS, MI - MARCH 11: Marcus Morris #13 of the Detroit Pistons handles the ball during a game against the New York Knicks on March 11, 2017 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
FOX 2 - Former Piston Marcus Morris was arrested and charged with fraud last weekend, accused of stealing from Las Vegas casinos.
The backstory:
Morris, 35, is accused of stealing about $265,000 from the casinos - allegedly getting $115,000 from the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino using bad checks in May 2024 and never paid it back when the checks bounced, TMZ first reported.
It is alleged that Morris did something similar a month later with more bad checks totaling $150,000 that bounced.
Morris was arrested at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and charged with fraud for insufficient funds check charge.
From 2015 to 2017 Morris started for the Pistons at forward, averaging 14 points per season. After last playing in 2024, he most recently was a guest analyst on ESPN.
Morris is in custody in Broward County, Florida while awaiting extradition to Las Vegas.
His agent Yony Noy is downplaying the incident blaming it on an outstanding marker with a casino.
"Just so everyone understands, this is zero fraud here or whatever crap outlets have said regarding fake checks or whatever the hell," Noy posted on X. "This is due to an outstanding marker with a casino. Apparently if you have over $1,200 they can issue a warrant for your arrest. Absolute insanity!"
TMZ reported court documents show two separate warrants for Morris' arrest were issued stemming from the claims earlier this year.
He is currently being lodged in jail awaiting extradition with the Florida judge denying bond.
Morris' twin brother Markieff, also an NBA veteran, blasted how the police handled the incident at the airport.
"Damn for that amount of money they'll embarrass you in the airport with your family," he posted on X. "They got y'all really thinking bro did some fraud (expletive)."
The Source: Information was gathered from multiple published reports.