{"id":1862637,"date":"2026-04-02T22:03:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1862637"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:03:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:03:46","slug":"lebron-james-takes-swipe-at-memphis-suggests-grizzlies-should-go-over-to-nashville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1862637","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James takes swipe at Memphis, suggests Grizzlies should \u2018go over to Nashville\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If 41-year-old LeBron James were to leave Los Angeles and play for another franchise, it definitely wouldn\u2019t be the Memphis Grizzlies. If the Grizzlies had drafted an 18-year-old LeBron, he still might not have gone.<\/p>\n

While golfing on the \u201cBob Does Sports<\/a>\u201d YouTube show, James said he might have pulled an \u201cEli Manning\u201d and refused to play for Memphis if the Grizzlies had won the 2003 lottery and selected him No. 1 overall.<\/p>\n

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\u201c(The Grizzlies\u2019) best chance would have been in 2003 if they had won the (NBA draft) lottery,\u201d James remarked, laughing. \u201cAnd I might\u2019ve pulled an Eli Manning and not shown up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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LeBron James on playing the Grizzlies:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m f***ing 41 years of age. You think I want to do sh** in Memphis on a random Thursday? I\u2019m not the first guy in the NBA to talk about this. You guys got to move the team\u2026 go over to Nashville already.\u201d<\/p>\n

(via @leaguealerts<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/ZN5y5vRg2p<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

James was referring to the 2004 NFL Draft, when quarterback Eli Manning and his agent famously told the San Diego Chargers he would not play for them even if selected No. 1 overall out of Ole Miss. The Chargers picked him anyway, but traded him on draft day to the New York Giants for Philip Rivers.<\/p>\n

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{“endpoint”:”https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql”}<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t all James had to say about Memphis. The 23-year veteran lamented any trip he has to take to the city, and said that other players shared his sentiments. He even suggested the Grizzlies should move 200 miles east to Nashville, the capital and most populous city in Tennessee. Nashville, known as \u201cMusic City\u201d for its deep-rooted history in the country music industry, is home to more than two million people in its greater metro area. The Memphis metro area has about 1.3 million residents, according to Data USA.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaying at the f\u2014ing Hyatt at 41 years old, you think I want to do that s\u2014?\u201d James said. \u201cBeing in Memphis on a random-a\u2013 Thursday. I\u2019m not even the first guy to talk about this in the NBA. We\u2019re all like, \u2018You guys have to move.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He also mused that Nashville would be a better home for the Grizzlies because of its already established sports culture. Nashville has the NFL\u2019s Tennessee Titans and the NHL\u2019s Predators, as well as major college athletics such as Vanderbilt of the SEC.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo over to Nashville,\u201d the four-time MVP said. \u201c\u2026 They got everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Grizzlies were founded in 1995 in Vancouver during the NBA\u2019s expansion into Canada, which also saw the birth of the Toronto Raptors. The franchise was originally owned by Vancouver Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths, who eventually sold Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment to Seattle-based John McCaw Jr., who assumed control of the Grizzlies in 1996.<\/p>\n

The franchise played six seasons in Vancouver before a poor financial situation, along with poor performances and attendance, forced a sale to Chicago-based billionaire Michael Heisley for $160 million. Heisley promptly relocated the franchise to Memphis in 2001 because the city offered a dedicated plan to build a new arena, which became FedExForum.<\/p>\n

Heisley later sold the Grizzlies to Robert Pera in 2012 for approximately $350 million.<\/p>\n

The Grizzlies\u2019 pick in 2003 was owned by the Detroit Pistons because of a conditional trade made in 1997, when the team was still in Vancouver. In that deal, the Grizzlies sent a future first-round pick to Detroit for forward Otis Thorpe. The pick was top-1 protected in 2002 and eventually became Detroit\u2019s No. 2 overall pick in 2003, which they used to select Darko Mili\u010di\u0107 in a top-five class that also included future Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. James will eventually join that list once he retires.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If 41-year-old LeBron James were to leave Los Angeles and play for another franchise, it definitely wouldn\u2019t be the Memphis Grizzlies. If the Grizzlies had drafted an 18-year-old LeBron, he still might not have gone. While golfing on the \u201cBob Does Sports\u201d YouTube show, James said he might have pulled an \u201cEli Manning\u201d and refused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1862637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1862637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862637\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1862637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1862637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1862637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}