Ja Morant’s Father & Tony Allen DESTROYS Stephen A. For Making Memphis Unattractive For Free Agents!

Ja Morant’s Father & Tony Allen DESTROYS Stephen A. For Making Memphis Unattractive For Free Agents!

We got clowns out there talking about Memphis.
Yeah, man. I heard that.
And so now what you talking about the boy Stephen A talk exactly about him.
Hello everybody and welcome back to the channel where everybody remembers a few weeks back where Stephen A. Smith made some comments on First Take talking about the city of Memphis and being uh basically undesirable uh for NBA free agents. I’m just going to play a clip just to rejogg your memory.
Listen, I know y’all got to go. You going to tell folks why nobody wants to be in Memphis or you want me to do it? The pe the people the people in Memphis is 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. 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.
Now, those comments recently got responded to on a podcast with Tony Allen, a Memphis veteran, much beloved in Memphis. I mean, one of the best perimeter defenders, just defenders period, ever hit the league. He had T- Morant on, whose son, John Morant, is actually the face of their franchise right now. Take a listen here what they had to say addressing uh Stephen A. Smith.
So we got clowns out there talking about Memphis.
Yeah, man. I heard that.
And so now what you talking about the boy Stephen A talking exactly about him?
Uh what I’m going to say about that is man, I ain’t going to lie, I’ve been here 15 years. Um I got here 2011. Um 2010 to be exact. Um, and ever since I got here, man, I’m talking I ain’t had a scratch on my body. I ain’t had a fearful moment yet,
right? You know, and uh I think when you get to a town like this, man, you know, people in a city, man, they want they they want to see your face. They want to show some love. They want to, you know, get that hug, get that picture, man. You don’t know what that do to them for a lifetime. Like, man, I’m talking I’m talking you could be around some of the toughest and the roughest.
I been around some of the toughest and rough and and the one thing that stand out is just being yourself, keeping it real. They going to show you more love than anybody. Matter of fact, they might be the one protecting you. Matter of fact, the city embraced our, you know, organization, the Grizzlies, being a athlete, cuz that’s what he talking about, being an athlete in here. The city loves their athletes.
Yeah. Facts.
Even the Memphis Tigers. Yeah, you get what I’m saying?
Oh, that was the pro team before the grizzly. Exactly. It was it was I will say that. I will say that the town is always painted blue. I ain’t going to never forget that. But what I’m saying is I ain’t never had a time where and I done been everywhere. T I ain’t never had a time where I felt fearful or nothing. Mhm.
And so when you talk about players don’t want to be here, I think you just you looking at the propaganda, the the the narrative that’s already being written. But when you get here, you see the love that you getting on and off the court.
Come on, man.
But I’m just I’m trying to figure out how professional is that? You got one job. It’s not to run people away from a NBA team.
That’s exactly what he doing. You he pretty much hating on our free agency. So
he really trying to trying to get the smear campaign on Memphis so everybody could be scared. But one thing was show too for certain man. Hey man, come on down here man.
For real.
I got you man. You’re good. Now it’s one thing Stephen A just saying that himself saying it based on narratives and you know never was a player but he said he got that information from you know current players. Um, but listening to former NBA player Norris Cole and Kenyan Martin, um, they actually echoed what what Stephen A. Smith was trying to say. Take a listen.
Stephen A go too far about his comments about Memphis.
He told the truth. I mean, Memphis is cool for certain people, but like for others, like it ain’t. Everywhere a little dangerous though.
No, it ain’t as dangerous as Memphis. The city is ravaged by gun violence. people dying daily in Memphis. I would not have want to play there as an NBA player. I didn’t feel safe. Even though I ventured out in certain things, but certain environments, I did not feel safe. Not to say that the the people of Memphis are bad people. As the old saying go, a few bad apples can ruin the whole bunch. Right.
I don’t know. I’d rather go to Well, they should move it to Nashville then.
That’s been my point. Exactly. You can keep it in the state. Now, Memphis local media, they absolutely hated the idea of, you know, Memphis being painted out as, you know, too unsafe for uh, you know, NBA players and athletes. I’m going to play a clip of what their local media actually had to say in response to Stephen A. Smith. Tonight is T. Did you hear what ESPN personality Steven A Smith said on air this morning about why some NBA players don’t want to play in our beloved Memphis? Now, I’m not bad if you don’t know who he is, but anyway, he is one of the biggest names in sports and what he had to say about the 901 has some Memphians firecracker hot. Action News5’s Garner Montgomery live in studio. Garner, this has been all the buzz on social media. Everybody’s talking about it.
I know, Joy. Everybody in the newsroom talking about it, too. There’s been no shortage of takes calling out Stephen A, including some Grizzlies who think the sports cer is misrepresenting our city.
Memphis is not the worst place to live. I love it. I love the barbecue. I love the blues. And we got it going on here in Memphis, Tennessee. So, come on down, y’all. Stephen, a perception is spot on because Memphis is a dangerous city. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can be taken out real fast. people down here is homegrown. I mean, they real friendly, their hospitality, and that’s what I enjoy about Memphis.
You should always love the place where you stay at and just do all you can to make it better. Even Memphis Mayor Paul Young sent out an invitation personally to Stephen A. Smith to come visit the city saying, you know, hey, he acknowledged that we’re a great sports town and we have some of the best fans, but he’s missing out on the fact that crime is down significantly in 2024 and 2025.
Y’all, you know, I’m a brother. I look at Memphis as as being a city, you know, you know, with a lot of black folks in a red state. That’s a tough position to be in. That’s just a fact when we’re talking about Memphis. But the mayor of Memphis made a comment speaking up for the city and invited me to come. Sir, I have friends in the city of Memphis, longtime friends that I’ve known for decades. And I’m in Memphis quite frequently. I know a little thing or two about Memphis. So, let me get that out of the way first. But in fairness to the to the mayor, Mr. Paul Young of Memphis, Tennessee, I want to throw this out there and I thought it was important. Total crimes have decreased by 13.3%. Violent crimes have dropped by 19%. Poverty crimes have fallen by 20%. Total homicide rates have fallen uh as well in the year 2024. Okay, so when you’re talking about that violent crimes, we’re talking about robberies have decreased, rape has decreased. So all of that sounds good because it’s moving in the right direction, but it’s still recognized as one of the worst cities in America to the point where the head of the FBI has called it the murder capital of this country per capita. That’s on the record saying that this is just weeks ago. What are we talking about here? The poverty rate is at 24 a.5%. In terms of their national ranking, it consistently ranks within the top 10 most impoverished large cities in the United States of America. Big one here, Molly Doggy, Wendy. 40% of the children in Memphis live in poverty. And when we’re talking about all of those things and you’re talking about the troubles that exist, these are the kind of things that contribute to the city being deemed by some within the NBA community as unattractive. So, let me know what you guys think, man. Um, you know, of course T- Morant was going to speak up. Tony Allen, I get I mean, they they both obviously have their own reasons for loving Memphis, but at the same time, you know, just because nothing has happened directly to an an active athlete. Let me be clear and say that because there has been former NBA players that have, you know, things have happened to them. You can just look that up. I’m not even going to go into that direction. But let me know what you guys think, man. Be sure to like, subscribe, hit that notification bell. I’mma I’ll at you next time. Peace.

🎥 Ja Morant’s Father Tee Morant & Grizzlies Legend Tony Allen CALL OUT Stephen A. Smith Over Memphis Slander! 🗣️🔥

In this video, we dive into the heated reaction from Tee Morant, father of Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, and Tony Allen, a true Grizzlies legend, as they publicly address Stephen A. Smith’s recent comments portraying Memphis as a violent city.

Tee and Tony argue that this negative narrative unfairly damages the city’s reputation and could scare off potential NBA free agents who might consider signing with the Grizzlies.

💬 Was Stephen A. out of line, or is there some truth to his take?
We break down:
✅ What Stephen A. Smith actually said on national TV
✅ How Tee Morant and Tony Allen responded
✅ The real impact these statements have on Memphis and the Grizzlies’ future
✅ What this controversy means for Ja Morant and the team’s culture

👉 Whether you’re a Grizzlies fan or just love NBA drama, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss!

🔥 Join the discussion below!
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