Ja Morant has had a tumultuous past year off of the court, but apparently Stephen A. Smith believes that he should be the face of Memphis that replaces the King of Rock and Roll.
Smith: Ja Morant Should Get Billboards In Memphis
When discussing the Western Conference playoff picture on First Take on Monday morning, Smith turned to the topic of the Memphis Grizzlies, who he is higher on than most people. But the conversation seemed to get away from him a bit when the city of Memphis popped into his head.
Elvis is dead. God rest his soul. You ain’t been to Memphis, Molly. You ain’t been to Memphis. I’ve been to Memphis. They’ve got signs of Elvis. They got billboards of Elvis and Graceland. There should be billboards of Ja Morant. Elvis is dead… It’s over. God rest his soul. It’s about Ja Morant in Memphis.”
His co-host, Molly Qerim, confirms that she has in fact been to Memphis.
"The Lakers could end up home in the first round."
😳 @stephenasmith pic.twitter.com/sjAbEIQewC
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 10, 2023
It remains to be seen whether they decide to change the name of the city, as Morant’s off-court troubles seemed to pile up during the 2022-23 season. There was an incident with potential firearms pointed at the Indiana Pacers team bus, and another time when Morant brought a crew to a Foot Locker to intimidate employees who his mother was having issues with. There were the accusations of punching a 17-year-old boy outside his house, and of course the gun/nightclub incident that ultimately landed him a suspension.
Grizzlies Will Need Effective Morant For Deep Playoff Run
This isn’t the first time that Smith has had this particular take, as it seems to be something of a recycled bit. Just over a year ago, when discussion essentially the same topic, Smith spouted the same speech that he gave to Molly this past Monday about needing to take all of the billboards of Elvis Presley down in Memphis.
If Ja Morant can somehow bring a championship to the city, they’ll probably build him a statue instead of giving him some lousy billboard. The Grizzlies are the #2 seed to start the Western Conference playoffs, but have already been written off by plenty of pundits and experts, citing the experience of the lower-seeded teams.
Morant was in and out of the lineup down the home stretch of the season after returning from suspension. In 8 games, he averaged 20 points and 7.5 assists on 49 percent shooting. The Grizzlies will take on the 7th seed with the series starting on Sunday.
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