After the Lakers eliminated the Grizzlies from the NBA playoffs last week, Memphis is taking its medicine since the team talked so much trash before the playoffs. What makes matters worse is not just that the Grizzlies couldn’t back their talk up, but they lost by 40 points to Los Angeles in Game 6.
In Monday’s episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith addressed Memphis for the first time since its ungraceful exit, and he went right after the team.
“They look like damn jokes, they were an embarrassment, and I don’t say that kindly, and I don’t say that with any joy in my voice or in my heart,” Smith said. “They didn’t lose, they got their a-- kicked.”
.@stephenasmith sounds off on the Grizzlies after their first-round playoff exit:
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 1, 2023
"They look like damn jokes. They were an embarrassment. ... They're a laughingstock right now. They're all talk and bluster and nothing else." pic.twitter.com/GbYzb3tlX6
Smith added that, even with the rest of the playoffs still going on, the Grizzlies enter the NBA offseason as one of the biggest jokes in the league.
“They're a laughingstock right now, they're all talk and bluster and nothing else,” he said. “They got embarrassed and it is what it is. They are gonna have a long offseason because ain’t nobody gonna let them forget that.”
While criticizing the team, Smith specifically called out two players on the team for their words and actions. First, he went after Dillon Brooks for essentially inviting the Lakers to destroy them with his trash talk. Then, he criticized Ja Morant for smiling on the bench while the team was about to flame out of the playoffs.
“When you’re down 40, and you’re a superstar in this league, and you’re seen, while you’re down 40, laughing on the bench, it reeks of everything that says ‘I got my bag,’” Smith said.
