Ja Morant Contradicts Himself While Complaining About The Grizzlies Being The Most Hated Team In The NBA

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The Memphis Grizzlies talk more trash than any other team in the NBA. The team's inability to keep its mouth shut is why the city of Memphis loves them and anyone outside the 901 hates them.

Dillon Brooks, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane do more than their fair share of trash-talking, but the focus in that arena falls on the face of the franchise, Ja Morant.

Morant has an active mouth while he's out on the floor, but took his chatter game to a whole new level last season when he famously said "we don't duck no smoke, we run up the chimney."

Ja Morant is convinced the Grizzlies are the most hated team in the league. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

While Morant's phrase took off last season and has carried over into this year as a catchphrase for the franchise, it doesn't carry as much weight when you start complaining about the actual smoke you're getting from the media.

Ahead of Tuesday night's game against the Chicago Bulls, Morant complained about the Grizzlies being the most hated team in the league.

"We are ," Morant told Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian. "You see it every day on social media. Anything that got something to do with the Memphis Grizzlies, it’s front line, national television, national people tweeting it, putting it out. Anything else, it don’t be said. I feel like we wasn't the only team on a losing streak, but we’re the only ones mentioned.”

Ja Morant Is More Than Frustrated

It's clear that Morant wasn't in the best of moods ahead of Tuesday's matchup, which is to be expected.

Not only have the Grizzlies lost eight of their last nine games, but Morant has been in the news for all the wrong reasons as of late.

The NBA recently investigated a postgame incident involving acquaintances with Morant who reportedly pointed a laser at Pacers' players and staff following Memphis' win over Indiana on January 29.

On Sunday, Morant tweeted that a friend of his was banned from FedExForum games for a year. 

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.