NBA players don’t want to go to Memphis, according to Stephen A. Smith. The First Take star explained why on Tuesday’s episode when the Morris brothers were guests on the show.
During a discussion about the Memphis Grizzlies in the wake of the Desmond Bane trade, Smith challenged Marcus Morris to tell viewers why players didn’t want to go to Memphis. After Morris said that players like him would play in Memphis, Markieff Morris asked Smith why he thought players preferred to avoid the city.
“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 pic.twitter.com/qD9UjV5ZV4— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 17, 2025
“The people in Memphis… It’s a great sports town, great fans, great people,” said Smith. “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 gotta clean some of that stuff up because it’s dissuasive to NBA players. They have talked about it. I know. They told me.”
Butler reportedly wanted to be traded anywhere but Memphis, but never elaborated on why, even after he’d been traded to Golden State. He’s currently involved in a lawsuit over the condition he left a house in when he left Miami.
