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After the Memphis Grizzlies traded away Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic, major discourse started to wonder about the futures of other players on the team, like Ja Morant. While the plan by the Grizzlies with Morant seems to be his staying, he would give his thoughts on his status, especially calling out ESPN's Stephen A. Smith for his comments on the city of Memphis.
The topic on the show “First Take” was about whether the team should move on from Morant, where Smith spoke about how the destination is not a “safe environment,” even saying that players have told him that. This garnered the attention of Morant, who took to X, formerly Twitter, and critiqued how the coverage is on the team rather than the current NBA Finals and even called out his “sources.”
“Talkin bout the [Grizzlies] more than the finals,” Morant wrote. “[With] these [cap] ahh sources.”
“Instead of focusing on the performances we seen from Jdub/Shai [Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander], Tj/Siakam [T.J. McConnell and Pascal Siakam], how this series is going,” Morant continued. “We say [something] negative about a city/team on a national level.”
Morant would make another post, even saying that he will be in the “901,” which is the area code of Memphis, stating that the source is “me.”
Grizzlies' Ja Morant took issue with Stephen A. Smith's comments
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While Stephen A. Smith has spoken critically about Ja Morant in the past, the aim of the main comments was about the city itself. When speaking on the panel, he would acknowledge how Memphis is a “great sports town,” but that local authorities need to “clean some of that stuff up,” and how that was a reason why Jimmy Butler originally didn't want to go to the team before being traded from the Miami Heat.
“The people in Memphis, it's a great sports town, great fans, great people, but there's an element there where cats like Jimmy Butler and others don't feel it's the safest environment,” Smith said. “I'm talking to the local authorities in Memphis. You got to clean some of that stuff up because it's dissuasive to NBA players. They have talked about it, I know, they've told me.”
“You gonna tell folks why nobody wants to be in Memphis? Or you want me to do it? … Cats like Jimmy Butler and others don't feel like it's the safest environment. I'm talking to the local authorities in Memphis.”
Stephen A. Smith on the Grizzlies.pic.twitter.com/GAFNIGnYpW
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 17, 2025
Morant and the Grizzlies are looking to improve after finishing eighth in the West and being swept in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
