Ja Morant disputes Stephen A. Smith’s assertion that NBA players don’t feel safe in Memphis.
In a First Take segment Tuesday where the prompt was whether the Grizzlies should move on from Morant and embark on a deeper rebuild after trading Desmond Bane to Orlando for a package including four first-round draft picks, Marcus Morris advocated for absolutely not trading Morant while Markieff Morris wondered what the plan would be in dealing him in away.
Smith started his reaction to the prompt by saying to separate out the gun incidents that previously affected Morant and that he was a “good brother” who made a “foolish mistake.” Smith said that he wasn’t questioning Morant’s talent, but his availability. “Did you know he was on the injured list 15 times this season with eight different ailments—hamstring, shoulder, knee, foot, hip, thigh, illness? 15 times! The best ability is availability!” Smith said. “If there’s a question about his availability, now it’s a different discussion—I need you on that damn court.”
Smith added that the Grizzlies need to make sure that Morant wants to be with the team for the long haul in a stacked Western Conference.
After asking Marcus Morris if he should say why players don’t want to be in Memphis, Smith said, “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 like it’s the safest environment. I’m talking to the local authorities in Memphis. You’ve 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. That’s all I’m saying.”
Without referring directly to Smith, Morant responded on Twitter/X.
“talkin bout the grizz more than the finals [laughing emoji] wit these [cap emoji, which implies lying] ahh sources,” Morant wrote. “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.”
Morant added, “ima be in that 901 … source: ME!!”
