Stephen A. claims that the NBA’s best players don’t want to play in Memphis because of safety concerns: “You’ve got to clean some of that stuff up” originally appeared on Basketball Network.
The Memphis Grizzlies are a popular topic among NBA talking heads after they traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four first-round picks, and a first-round pick swap. Some say the Grizz may be headed to a rebuild after giving up a key player on their team.
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During Tuesday’s edition of ESPN’s First Take show, there was a segment entitled “Should the Grizzlies move on from Ja Morant?” During the discussion, ESPN’s top mouthpiece, Stephen A. Smith, gave a wild take on why Memphis can’t seem to get the best players to play for their team.
“It’s a great sports town, great fans, great people,” Stephen A. said. “But there’s an element there where cats like Jimmy Butler and others don’t feel 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.”
Butler wanted to play anywhere except Memphis
The Grizzlies were one of the teams linked to Jimmy Butler when he wanted out of Miami. The top gambling sites even had Memphis as the betting favorite to land Jimmy Buckets. However, after gaining some momentum, the Grizz bowed out of the race after a report stated that Butler was willing to go anywhere except Memphis.
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No reason was given as to why Butler had no interest in paying for the Grizzlies, and it was not made a big deal back then because some players had preferred landing spots. Perhaps it was just Jimmy’s personal preference that he did not want to continue his NBA career there.
Before the trade deadline, Butler was dealt to the Golden State Warriors, where he signed a two-year contract extension. The NBA season continued as it should, but now that we’re down to the last two games of the 2024-25 campaign, Smith has decided to shake things up by making a negative reference to Memphis.
Ja fired back at Stephen A.
Not long after Smith’s controversial statement, Grizzlies superstar guard Ja Morant fired back at the ESPN anchor and stood up for the only city he’s called his NBA home by expressing his disagreement on “X.”
Ja then concluded his rebuttal with one final ode to the city.
In fairness to Smith, he isn’t wrong about the situation in Memphis. Along with cities like St. Louis and Detroit, it has consistently appeared on the list of the most dangerous cities in the United States. Last November, the BBC-published Science Focus magazine ranked Memphis as the No.4 most dangerous city in the United States, with an average of 63 homicides per 100,000 residents.
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However, to say that the city’s crime rate is directly related to its ability to attract the NBA’s top players may be a flawed statement. To date, no NBA player has said he did not want to play for the Grizzlies because he feared for his safety. Maybe there are, but unless the cat is out of the bag, it was wrong of SAS to diminish the Grizz on national TV based on sources he never reveals.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.