Tee Morant, father of former Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, discussed his son’s trade from Memphis in a recent episode of his Tee’d Up podcast.
Tee Morant distinguished between the city of Memphis and the Grizzlies organization when discussing the trade.
“I don’t have a bad thing to say about Memphis, because it wasn’t Memphis that traded (Ja Morant), and we don’t trade Memphis,” Tee Morant said. “It was the organization that felt like they was going down another path, and I guess we didn’t belong. It’s no hard feelings, but when we get on that (expletive) court, you better know it’s a reckoning.”
The Grizzlies and Trail Blazers will meet three times during the 2026-27 NBA season. Their first matchup is scheduled for Oct. 29 in Portland. Morant will return to FedExForum for two games against his former team on Feb. 6 and Feb. 8.
The Grizzlies traded Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers on June 29 after seven seasons in Memphis. Morant was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, earned two all-star selections and helped lead the Grizzlies to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference twice.
Injuries and suspensions interrupted portions of Morant’s career in Memphis. Tee Morant’s comments echo those Ja Morant expressed after reports surfaced Jan. 9 that the Grizzlies were willing to listen to trade offers for their star point guard.
Morant repeatedly expressed his desire to remain in Memphis after the reports emerged. Despite his public statements, the Grizzlies ultimately decided to move in a different direction.
Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tee Morant addresses Ja Morant’s Grizzlies trade with ‘no hard feelings’