The Ja Morant end-of-the-season saga with the Memphis Grizzlies has taken another turn. Danny Green, who spent a brief stint with the Memphis Grizzlies, knows what the organisation’s culture looks like from the inside. When Memphis excluded Ja Morant from a Fan Appreciation Night jersey giveaway at the final home game of a 25-57 season, Green decided the situation demanded a response, and on the NFG Show, he gave it without mincing words.
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Appearing on the NFG Show on Monday, Green addressed both dimensions of the Grizzlies’ decision to keep Morant out of the jersey giveaway: the disrespect to Morant personally, and the disrespect to the fans who showed up expecting the full experience.
“I think it’s disrespectful to him obviously, but I also think it’s disrespectful to the fans,” Green said. “Like, a fan could have gotten a Ja Morant jersey … He may not be a fan favorite to you guys, but to the city, to the culture, to the people. His jersey sells. People buy it. People want it. People want his signature. … like what do you expect him to do at that point? … Y’all obviously don’t want me here. … Trying to like take him out of team pictures like you’re trying to banish this man ever existed from this year.”
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Danny Green says it’s disrespectful what the Memphis Grizzlies did to Ja Morant telling him a hour before not to show up to fan appreciation night:
“I think it’s disrespectful to him obviously, but I also think it’s disrespectful to the fans. Like, a fan could have gotten a Ja… pic.twitter.com/KSxeZZlpOi
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 13, 2026
The details of what happened at the Grizzlies’ final home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers make Green’s reaction harder to dismiss. According to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, every active Memphis player gave their jersey to a fan as part of the Fan Appreciation Night celebration, except Morant. A team source told Robinson, “He just stood there and watched his teammates give away their jerseys. Who does that? The writing is on the wall.” A separate source closer to Morant’s side offered a different framing, that the two-time All-Star was notified just one hour before tip-off that he would not be participating in the giveaway, which left him without a jersey prepared.
The same Morant-adjacent source told Robinson: “He’s unhappy with how he’s being treated. He feels alienated by the organisation.” On the court behind the scenes that night, Morant reportedly flashed a peace sign to fans as he walked away, a gesture that his supporters read as a farewell. A Grizzlies media member shared a photo of Morant with his head tilted upward, hands clasped.
The context surrounding the Fan Appreciation Night incident is important. Morant played just 20 games in the 2025-26 season, averaging 19.5 points, 8.1 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game on a career-low 23.5% from three. Memphis then traded Jaren Jackson Jr. at the deadline, a move that signalled that the current core is no longer the plan. The Grizzlies then, reportedly, entertained trade offers for Morant before the Feb. 5 deadline but found no deal worthwhile enough, with the market described as tepid.
A source close to Ja told Scoop B that the guard was largely kept in the dark about which teams were interested: “Ja didn’t know who was coming at him until after the deadline. It was painted as if nobody wanted him, but that wasn’t the reality.” The Miami Heat emerged as Morant’s reported preferred destination, with the Sacramento Kings and Milwaukee Bucks among teams that checked in. He is expected to make $42.1 million next season and $44 million in 2027-28, the final year of his contract, regardless of where his future lies next season.
Memphis Is Acting Like a Trade for Ja Morant Has Already Happened. It Hasn’t
Danny Green used the word “banish.” And that was the right word. The Grizzlies excluded Morant from a team event, then left him to stand alone while teammates engaged the crowd, and then reportedly also tried to keep him out of team pictures. These are not the actions of an organisation managing a complicated relationship with a player it still employs. They are the actions of a franchise trying to signal to itself, to the market, and to anyone watching that this chapter is over.
Imago
Jan 21, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) and head coach Tuomas Iisalo looks on during the third quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
The problem is that the chapter is not over. Ja Morant will earn $42.1 million next season and $44 million in 2027-28, as he is still under contract. Memphis tried to move him at the February deadline and could not find a deal it found acceptable. Funnily, the player it is treating as “already gone” is the same player it will need to convince another organisation to take on at those numbers this offseason.
If there was ever a situation where an organisation had maximum incentive to manage a player’s public image and market value carefully, it was this one. Now, excluding him from their Fan Appreciation Night and trying to scrub him from team photos is definitely the opposite of that.
Green’s argument that the fans are being disrespected is not a sentimental one. It is a practical one. Morant’s jersey still sells. Fans who bought one before this season did not buy a jersey with a footnote attached. The Fan Appreciation Night was designed to create a memory between a player and the people who supported him through a difficult year. And denying that to fans of the most marketable player in franchise history, one hour before tip-off, with no alternative prepared, is the kind of decision that says everything about where the Grizzlies’ front office is right now.
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Ved Vaze