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LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers takes a free throw against the Washington Wizards in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on March 30, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
Veteran Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is facing severe backlash for his recent remarks on the city of Memphis and the Grizzlies organization.
During his appearance on “Bob Does Sports” earlier this week, James encouraged the Grizzlies to relocate their franchise to Nashville and even said he would have refused to play in Memphis if the Grizzlies had the first pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
“I’m [expletive] 41 years old, you think I want to do that [expletive] being in Memphis on a random [expletive] Thursday,” James told Bob while riding a golf cart.
“I’m not like the first guy even to talk about in the NBA. Like, we all like, ‘You guys have to move.’ Go over to Nashville.”
Coaches Call Out LeBron James
Two NBA head coaches — the Memphis Grizzlies‘ Tuomas Iisalo and the Toronto Raptors‘ Darko Rajakovic — took serious issue with James’ comments.
“I can say from my own perspective that I have the complete opposite — 180-degree perspective on that,” Iisalo said, via ESPN. “The Memphis where we have arrived less than two years ago has been very warm. Very welcoming.”
“All I can say is Memphis is the right place for the Grizzlies,” Iisalo added.
Rajakovic, who was an assistant with the Grizzlies before taking the job with the Raptors, said he had only positive experiences during his time in Memphis.
“Don’t care what the rest of the world thinks. I love the people of Memphis,” Rajakovic said after his Raptors beat the Grizzlies, 128-96, on Friday night.
“I love the food, I love every single time I come over here.”
LeBron James Called a ‘Gentrifier’
James also faced a lot of criticism from ESPN analysts Stephen A. Smith and David Dennis Jr., with the latter going as far as to call James “a gentrifier” for suggesting that the Grizzlies would be better off in a more urbanized city like Nashville.
“He is a gentrifier,” Dennis Jr. said of James on ESPN Radio.
“It is behavior that I would’ve thought was unbecoming of somebody like LeBron and all of these other hoopers who have all of these bad things to say about Memphis.”
Through an X post, Dennis Jr. also reminded James that the National Civil Rights Museum is located in Memphis, the city the Lakers star apparently hates.
Elsewhere, Smith blasted James for disrespecting the city of Memphis in front of his “white friends” on the golf course, while reminding the Lakers star that nearly 63 percent of the city’s population is African American.
“…To say so flippantly amongst a bunch of white dudes in a golf course, knowing that the cameras are rolling and videoing you without any regard for what kind of effect that would have on a black populace is problematic,” Smith said, via Basketball Network.
“Especially when I don’t know if it was your sneakers or whatever it was you finished promoting months ago about black history and Martin Luther King and civil rights.
“I think you wore sneakers or something commemorating all of that.”
James has yet to respond to the backlash.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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