Maybe the Grizzlies should leave Memphis after all.
The Athletic recently polled 120 NBA players, and when they were asked what the first team on their no-trade list was, the Memphis Grizzlies received 35.8% of the votes.
"I'll play anywhere, honestly," one player explained. "But I would have to say Memphis is a place I don't want to live. So that would be the reason why I wouldn't want to play there."
Said another player: "It has nothing to do with the team. It's the location of the team."
Before the regular season ended, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said he hated playing in Memphis because of the hotel across the Grizzlies' stadium, the Hyatt Centric. The NBA legend also said the Grizzlies should move to Nashville.
James made these comments while playing golf with "Bob Does Sports."
"Staying at the f—ing Hyatt at 41 years old," James said. "You think I want to do that s—? Being in Memphis on a f—ing random ass Thursday? I'm not like the first guy to even talk about it in the NBA. We're all like, 'You guys have to move. Go over to Nashville.' You got Vanderbilt over there. You got NASCAR. You got a stadium. Don't they got a hockey team, too?"
Adam Silver is confident in the Grizzlies' staying power in Memphis, but the NBA commissioner wouldn't mind an increased presence in Nashville.
Silver appeared on Barstool's "Pardon My Take" podcast and said Grizzlies governor Robert Pera has made it clear that he has "no interest in moving the team out of Memphis." However, Silver does want the Grizzlies could have more of a presence in the state's capital.
"Nashville is a city on the rise," Silver said. "There's incredible things happening there. If it were up to me, I'd love for them to play a few games a year in Nashville and sort of be Tennessee's team to the extent they can."
The Grizzlies have been in Memphis since 2001. They played in Vancouver from 1995 to 2001.
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