ESPN Star Fires Back at Ja Morant After Heated Exchange

Grizzlies superstar guard Ja Morant took to social media to seemingly respond to Smith's comments about the city of Memphis saying, "talkin bout the grizz more than the finals."

He also criticized the coverage of the NBA Finals, saying, "instead of focusing on the performances we seen from jdub/shai , tj/siakam, how this series is going . we say sumn negative about a city/team on a national level."

Now, Smith appeared once again on "First Take" to respond to Morant's social media posts, describing statistics about the city of Memphis and backing up his claims about players not wanting to sign there.

"It's moving in the right direction, but it's still recognized as one of the worst cities in America. To the point where the head of the FBI has called it 'the murder capital of this country' per capita. That's on the record," Smith said.

He continued to point out that he defended his comments, even though many fans criticized them, saying, "The citizens in Memphis, I think a lot better can be done for them…I apologize if anybody was offended by it. But facts are facts."

The Grizzlies face a crucial offseason after trading Desmond Bane and preparing for Jaren Jackson Jr.'s extension this summer.