Stephen A. Smith alleged NBA players are afraid of playing in Memphis, and Ja Morant took that personally.
ESPN’s First Take was breaking down whether the Memphis Grizzlies trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic signals it’s time to similarly move on from Morant. And during the segment, Smith claimed NBA players don’t want to play in Memphis for safety concerns.
“It’s a great sports town, great fans, great people,” Smith said. “But there’s an element there where cats like Jimmy Butler and others don’t feel like it’s the safest environment. I’m talking to the local authorities in Memphis. You gotta clean some of that stuff up because it’s dissuasive to NBA players. They have talked about it. I know, they’ve told me.”
Almost immediately after Smith dropped the hot take, Morant went on social media and not so subtly called out those who were spending time talking about the Grizzlies during the NBA Finals. Additionally, Morant not so subtly called out people who were saying anything negative about a team or city on a national level.
talkin bout the grizz more than the finals😂 wit these 🧢 ahh sources
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) June 17, 2025
instead of focusing on the performances we seen from jdub/shai , tj/siakam, how this series is going . we say sumn negative about a city/team on a national level.
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) June 17, 2025
Morant did not name names, but Smith had just finished talking about the Grizzlies on ESPN and saying negative things about Memphis on a national level.
ESPN has made a habit out of finding things other than the NBA Finals to talk about in recent days. Get Up, for example, opted to break down Dak Prescott’s legacy the morning before Game 5 of the NBA Finals. In the case of the Grizzlies, however, the conversation was warranted because they interrupted the NBA Finals by trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic. But Smith opted to take that conversation to the next level by alleging NBA players don’t feel safe in Memphis.
It was also interesting to hear Smith jump to naming Jimmy Butler as a player who didn’t want to play in Memphis for safety issues. Butler reportedly did not want to be traded to the Grizzlies before Miami sent him to Golden State, but that reluctance was never linked to concerns about safety.
Smith, who splits his time between New York and Los Angeles, did not expand on what the safety concerns were or what he wanted local authorities to do a better job of in Memphis. Whatever the issue, Morant, who has first hand experience playing and living in Memphis, doesn’t seem to share the same sentiment.