Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell brushed off Draymond Green's call to relocate the Memphis Grizzlies, saying the city's recent bids have been for women's teams.
Draymond Green thinks the Memphis Grizzlies belong in Nashville. The mayor of Nashville would rather talk about women's sports.
Green went on The Draymond Green Show this week and told Memphis to pack its bags. He has said his piece about Memphis before, but this time he had a specific complaint — no decent hotels, no sauna, no hot tub.
"Do everybody a favor and move that team to Nashville," Green said. "There's no great hotels in Memphis. I love the people of Memphis. They are incredible. Shout out to the people of Memphis. I love them, but just from an NBA standpoint, man — there's not a sauna or a hot tub in sight."
Mayor Freddie O'Connell got asked about it. He passed.
"I love Memphis and the Grizzlies," O'Connell said. "They do training camps here, and we'd love to see them play a few games here, but our most recent bids have been for professional women's teams."
The Titans, Predators, and Nashville SC already fight for dates and dollars in that market. Throw in Vanderbilt, Belmont, and Tennessee State and the sports calendar is full. Nashville has grown fast, no question, but O'Connell is not out here lobbying Adam Silver for a basketball team.
The Grizzlies and Memphis city officials have been at the table on a lease extension. About $550 million in FedExForum upgrades is part of the framework. Young has said he thinks a deal gets done.
The league is headed toward expansion — Seattle and Las Vegas are the expected landing spots, probably by 2028-29. Dropping two teams into the West creates a conference balance issue, and Green's fix was to push Minnesota east and take Memphis with it, Nashville edition. Silver has not backed any of that. He has said relocation is not something the league is pursuing.
Smith went on First Take Monday and made Nashville's case, then tacked on a disclaimer that he is not rooting for Memphis to lose its team. Last year, he was telling anyone who would listen that players don't feel safe going to Memphis. Now he's pitching Nashville. Memphis noticed the first time and will notice this time too.
Ownership sign-off, league approval, a building, a market — moving a franchise is not a quick process, and Nashville is not close to checking any of those boxes.
That won't kill the chatter. Every time expansion comes up, Memphis is in the conversation — and Green just made sure it stays there a little longer.