LeBron James drew criticism from Memphis sports fans following remarks he made in a Bob Does Sports video, where he said he would prefer the Memphis Grizzlies relocate, citing his dislike of traveling to Memphis.
Following those comments, additional past remarks from James about Memphis resurfaced, including an aggregated report claiming he once ignored a Make-A-Wish child whose dream was to meet him.
However, the post is misleading. It features an image of James in a Lakers uniform, suggesting the incident was recent, even though he only joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018.
In reality, the incident involving a Memphis Make-A-Wish child occurred in 2014, during James’ time with the Miami Heat, before his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
According to WREG, the child — St. Jude brain cancer patient Josh Hardy — attended a Grizzlies game against James’ Heat. First Call Ambulance provided transportation, Radians Inc. offered a suite, Mark Hardin donated courtside seats, and the Grizzlies supplied team merchandise.
Grizzlies players signed a basketball for him. WREG reached out to LeBron James through the Heat’s media team to ask whether he would meet Hardy, but James declined.
Hardy later died at the age of 10.
In 2019, however, James did meet a fan battling terminal cancer during the Christmas Day game between the Lakers and the LA Clippers.
LeBron James Makes Feelings Known on Memphis
The controversial comments from LeBron James centered on his suggestion that the Memphis franchise should relocate to Nashville.
“I’m f**king 41 years of age,” he said. “You think I want to do s**t in Memphis on a random Thursday? I’m not the first guy in the NBA to talk about this. You guys got to move the team… go over to Nashville already.”
Host Robby Berger quipped to the camera that James clearly won’t be suiting up for the Grizzlies anytime soon.
James replied:
“Yeah, they know. Their only chance was in 2003 if they would’ve won the lottery. And I might have pulled an Eli Manning and not shown up.”
That jab referenced the 2004 NFL Draft, when Eli Manning and his agent reportedly told the San Diego Chargers, who had the No. 1 pick, that he wouldn’t play for them.
The Chargers drafted him and traded him to the New York Giants for Philip Rivers.
