MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – NBA superstar LeBron James drew widespread backlash from Grizzlies fans and local NBA commentators after he was caught on camera saying the Memphis Grizzlies should move to Nashville.<\/p>\n
James was recorded during a golf game complaining about staying in Memphis hotels for games and suggesting the NBA should relocate the Grizzlies to Nashville.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came from nothing. I feel like he just got privilege now and it\u2019s just a privilege thing,\u201d said Marques Cook, the content creator behind Unapologetically Memphis at Thursday night\u2019s Grizzlies game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s really fixing to get retired so I\u2019m not even going to worry about him,\u201d said a young Grizzlies fan at the game for his birthday.”<\/p>\n
Anthony Sain, who talks Grizzlies basketball every day for Bluff City Media, said the response to James\u2019 comments reinforces why the Grizzlies are in Memphis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was proud to see not just how our city responded, but how other people responded, ESPN people, how they responded on it,\u201d Sain said. \u201cLeBron, hey man. You was just here marketing a show with the Lorraine Motel and the Civil Rights Museum and Martin Luther King Junior, and now you\u2019re bashing the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sain said the backlash has been more widespread than previous criticism of the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the same LeBron James who has been someone who has put forward as a champion of social justice and for issues that affect the black community,\u201d Sain said. \u201cWith these white guys say these things about a city that\u2019s, per capita, probably the most black-populated city in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Mullinax, podcast co-host of Locked On Grizzlies, said Memphis\u2019 status as a basketball city makes it a better fit for an NBA team than Nashville.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Memphis, you eat, sleep and breathe basketball. That is hoop city. Nashville? They like having a hockey team. I think there\u2019s a niche group that loves the Predators. But even when the Titans are good, I don\u2019t know if they selling out Nissan Stadium consistently,\u201d Mullinax said.<\/p>\n
Mullinax said more can be done to improve the hospitality scene to improve the city\u2019s reputation among athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to judge a multi-millionaire for wanting a better place to place to stay when their team is traveling. That\u2019s their life, and they\u2019re away from their families, and they\u2019re doing these things on the road. I would love to see a greater investment in the downtown space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n