It has not been even a month since Ja Morant came into trouble for posing with a gun on Instagram while he was in a strip club in Denver and missed 9 games because of the suspension.
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And when his own team must still be in a conundrum about the face of their franchise, Stephen A Smith has suggested that the city of Memphis should replace Elvis Presley with the 23-year-old All-Star.
“They’ve got signs of Elvis. They got billboards of Elvis and Graceland,” Smith started. “There should be billboards of Ja Morant. Elvis is dead, Kendrick Perkins. It’s over. God rest his soul.”
Stephen A. Smith says Ja Morant should replace Elvis Presley as the face of Memphis
“They’ve got signs of Elvis. They got billboards of Elvis and Graceland. There should be billboards of Ja Morant. Elvis is dead… It’s over. God rest his soul.”
(h/t @SInow ) pic.twitter.com/hfYY1yqI3r
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 10, 2023
Elvis Presley and Memphis
The King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley, is not just the poster boy of Memphis, he is the heart and soul of the city that’s situated in Tennessee.
From the Sun Studio to Elvis’ Graceland mansion, Presley is yet nowhere near to being the history of the city. He gets celebrated there like a god, and rightfully so. The man was one of the biggest cultural icons of the 20th century.
Which is why fans went off on Stephen A. Smith.
Until 1.5 billion people worldwide tune in to watch ja morant on one night…..he is not replacing Elvis. A very very bad take https://t.co/W1hhJI21ok
— Reagan Burford (@burford_reagan) April 11, 2023
Elvis was the original popstar/rockstar and Ja Morant is…a good basketball player
— wayneo (@onetakewayne0) April 11, 2023
Man please. Elvis and Graceland are legendary. Ja Morant……🦗🦗🦗🦗 pic.twitter.com/X6KnQmJXnA
— Unapologetically Black 🖤💚❤️ (@PhillipBattle8) April 10, 2023
Comparing Ja Morant to ELVIS PRESLEY is insane
— 🎓 (@imnotwilk) April 11, 2023
It might not cause as much rage as say if Skip Bayless tried to Dallas to have Luka Doncic over The D.O.C. But wait, is Luka Magic already bigger there? Ja has got a bigger task anyway.
Why is too early for Ja Morant to be the face of Memphis?
When Boston is not sure about whether Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum is the face of the city in sports since Tom Brady took his talents away from New England, it would not make sense for Ja to be the face of the city.
Not until he does something great with Grizzlies. He will have a chance to get started on it in a few days when probably LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the Lakers come knocking for the first round of Playoffs.
The man must lead his team to the NBA Finals at the very least for even being in the same conversation as Elvin Presley.
