The Athletic recently did an anonymous poll of 120 NBA players to find out which team tops their no-trade list, and one franchise was mentioned over and over again.
The Memphis Grizzlies received a whopping 35.8% of votes, while no other team received more than 11.7%. In second place was the Washington Wizards at 11.7% and in third place was the Sacramento Kings at 10.8%, followed by the Brooklyn Nets (5%) and Utah Jazz (5%) rounding out the top five.
What made the results sting a little more for Memphis is what the players actually said when they explained their reasoning: it’s not the front office or the roster or the coaching staff. It’s the city.
NBA Players Explain Why They Don’t Want to Play for Memphis Grizzlies
When the players explained their votes, they weren’t piling on the Grizzlies as an organization.
“It has nothing to do with the team,” one player told The Athletic. “It’s the location of the team.”
Another put it this way: “I’ll play anywhere, honestly. 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.”
The players made it clear that Memphis as a city is the sticking point. And when 43 of 120 players are sending that same message, it’s pretty telling.
LeBron James made headlines recently when he went on a similar rant about Memphis.
“In Memphis on a f**king random ass Thursday,” James said. “I’m not like the first guy to even talk about it in the NBA. We all like, ‘You guys have to move. Just go over to Nashville.'”
After he received criticism for the comment, James doubled down.
“I’m 41 years old and there’s two cities I don’t like playing in: Milwaukee and Memphis,” James said. “I’m not talking about the people in Memphis. I just don’t like staying at the Hyatt Centric.”
Memphis, Washington, and Sacramento have all historically struggled to attract marquee free agents, which makes the draft the primary vehicle for building. For the Wizards and Grizzlies, that makes the 2026 NBA Draft important since Washington has the No. 1 pick and Memphis picks at No. 3.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently defended Memphis stating that he had “never heard that issue of players not wanting to be in Memphis,” and that “there’s no reason why the Memphis Grizzlies can’t be successful.”
He also floated the idea of Memphis playing “a few games a year in Nashville and sort of be Tennessee’s team to the extent that they can.”
The Grizzlies’ lease at FedExForum expires after the 2028-29 season, and negotiations between the team and the city have dragged on far longer than anyone expected, with no resolution in sight.
After the results of this anonymous poll, it’s clear that a percentage of players don’t want to play in Memphis, and Silver can no longer ignore that.
