A reasonable discussion on ESPN about Ja Morant’s future with the Memphis Grizzlies has gone completely off the rails.
Welcome to the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, where Stephen A. Smith is on ESPN, breaking down the crime rate in Memphis.
Tuesday morning on First Take, Smith was aptly discussing whether Memphis trading Desmond Bane signals it’s time to similarly move on from Morant. But during the segment, Smith controversially claimed NBA players don’t want to play in Memphis due to 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.”
The take has been widely chastised, with Ja Morant criticizing Smith for slandering Memphis, and The Ringer’s Chris Vernon noting the number of players who continue to live in the city even after their careers with the Grizzlies are over. But the critics have only inspired Smith to continue the conversation. And on Wednesday morning, during First Take, Smith brought statistics to the chat.
Stephen A. Smith – “The citizens in Memphis, I think a lot better can be done for them…I apologize if anybody was offended by it. But facts are facts.”
Brian Windhorst – “Well, focusing on the basketball…” https://t.co/rfl8hnLFL8 pic.twitter.com/g7Juregxwf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 18, 2025
“I’m a brother. I look at Memphis as being a city with a lot of Black folks in a red state. That’s a tough position to be in,” Smith said. “That’s just a fact when we’re talking about Memphis. But, the mayor of Memphis made a comment, speaking up for the city, and invited me to come.”
Smith noted that he has many friends in Memphis and claims to visit the city frequently. And to appease the mayor, Smith read stats that cited a decrease in total crimes, violent crimes, poverty crimes, homicides, robberies and rape in recent years.
“It’s moving in the right direction, but it’s still recognized as one of the worst cities in America,” Smith continued. “To the point where the head of the FBI (Kash Patel) has called it ‘the murder capital of this country’ per capita. That’s on the record.”
“What are we talking about here?” Smith asked. “The poverty rate is at 24.5%. In terms of their national ranking, it consistently ranks within the top 10 most impoverished large cities in the United States of America. Big one here…40% of the children in Memphis live in poverty…these are the kinds of things that contribute to the city being deemed by some within the NBA community as unattractive.”
Yes, what are we talking about here? In the wake of Memphis trading Bane, the conversation about Morant’s future with the Grizzlies was more than fair. But with the Stanley Cup Finals coming to an end and the NBA Finals heading for a Game 6, why is Smith on First Take giving Kash Patel’s assessment of Memphis? Smith’s audience expects him to do so on his podcast and cable news appearances. But First Take’s audience is still ESPN’s audience.
“The citizens in Memphis, I think a lot better can be done for them,” Smith continued. “That’s what I was trying to say. I apologize if anybody was offended by it. But facts are facts. There are concerns in that city. And as a Black man in this country who cares about my peeps, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna be silent when all of these troubles are taking place.”
After Smith spoke about Memphis for more than five minutes, Molly Qerim passed the baton to Brian Windhorst, who was tasked with bridging the conversation.
“Well, focusing on the basketball,” Windhorst said immediately.
Windhorst’s contract with ESPN is reportedly set to expire this summer. And as crucial as Windhorst’s NBA reporting is for ESPN, he proved his value again Wednesday morning by focusing on the basketball.