Stephen A. Smith Sends Sharp Message After Ja Morant Calls Him Out

When it comes to hot takes, there might be no one more polarizing than Stephen A. Smith. Although his loud and energetic persona make for great television, it often gets him on the bad side of the athletes he talks about. That’s exactly what happened when the ESPN veteran dove into why big-name superstars remain unwilling to join the Grizzlies to play alongside Ja Morant, of course, by citing anonymous sources. Sure enough, Ja was not pleased with Smith’s controversial take, sparking a heated online back-and-forth.

It all started when Stephen A. said, “The people in Memphis… It’s a great sports town. Great fans. Great people. Yeah, 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.” This garnered a heated response from Morant.

“Instead of focusing on the performances we seen from jdub/shai, tj/siakam, how this series is going. we say sumn negative about a city/team on a national level,” the Grizzlies superstar tweeted, calling out SAS for taking focus away from the Finals with his criticism of the Memphis team. He doubled down by further noting, “Talkin bout the grizz more than the finals wit these (cap) ahh sources.” Obviously, Stephen A. never reveals his sources, regardless of how much heat it brings his way.

But he did have a strong message for Ja following his public callout, “So this is what we’re doing now @JaMorant? I recall talking about the Finals. But the @memgrizz made news because of Bane getting traded. AND, your possible extension coming up. Would you prefer I go into detail about WTH has been going on in Memphis? Why players have stated they’re not interested in going? Or even MORE details? Or would you like me to leave well enough alone, and let the great peeps of Memphis address it on their own? Your call! I’m all ears!”

Looks like Stephen A. knows a lot more about the Grizzlies’ internal turmoil than he has let people know, and he threatened to spill the secrets in his response to Ja. Amid the SAS drama, Morant is also tackling constant trade rumors.

Ja Morant shuts down trade rumors with a subtle dig at NBA media

Following Desmond Bane’s trade to the Magic, there have been rising speculations about the Grizzlies going on a full on rebuild by trading their remaining two superstars, Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Well, the Ja-led squad has been unable to get past the second round during his tenure and got swept in the opening round this season. So, there are major concerns about their legitimacy as title contenders.

However, Ja does not believe he is going anywhere. Shutting down the trade rumors, Morant tweeted, “& ima be in dat 901 (bear) source: ME !!”

Of course, 901 is the area code of Memphis, and Morant took a subtle dig at the NBA media by citing himself as a source of the news, claiming that he is here to stay in Memphis. Despite recent playoff failures, Morant is too big a superstar to let go for the Grizzlies. So, it seems unlikely that they will trade him unless there is an off chance of acquiring an even bigger star. And now that SAS has openly called out Ja, it seems like this beef is far from over as the world awaits the high flyer’s response.

Whose side are you on?