Southwest Notes: Grizzlies, Wemby, Johnson, Rockets

LeBron James irked fans in Memphis earlier this month when he spoke during a YouTube show about how much he dislikes staying in the city and expressed a belief that the Grizzlies should relocate to Nashville. Addressing those comments – and Memphis’ reputation in general – during an appearance this week on the Pardon My Take podcast, NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggested James’ views aren’t commonly held throughout the league.

“First of all, players I talk to all the time like playing in Memphis,” Silver said, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I have never heard that issue of players not wanting to be in Memphis. That’s number one. Number two is the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, a guy named Robert Pera, has no interest in moving the team out of Memphis. He has made that clear.”

While Silver insisted that moving the Grizzlies across the state isn’t on the table, he did refer to Nashville as a “city on the rise” and indicated he wouldn’t mind seeing the Grizzlies play some games there. There’s a recent – and nearby – precedent for that, as the divisional rival Spurs have been playing two regular season games in Austin annually since 2023.

“If it were up to me, I would like to see them play a few games a year in Nashville and sort of be Tennessee’s team to the extent that they can,” Silver said. “Memphis has been a great market historically for the NBA, and there is amazing history in that city and amazing culture.”

We have more from around the Southwest:

• While Victor Wembanyama (concussion) is officially listed as questionable for Friday’s game in Portland, his Spurs teammates are preparing for the worst-case scenario and approaching Game 3 as if they won’t have the star big man available, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). For what it’s worth, in the 18 regular season games Wembanyama missed, San Antonio went 12-6, including 2-1 vs. Portland. “I think we just have to play how we have the whole way, just playing with a lot of force and physicality and pace,” center Luke Kornet said. “Obviously there will be little things to adjust, but I feel we’ve had a lot of experience playing that way.”
• Keldon Johnson is a consistently positive presence in the Spurs‘ locker room, but after being named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year on Wednesday, he admitted that it has been a difficult year for him, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). Johnson’s grandfather has been fighting cancer in Virginia and Johnson hasn’t been able to see as much of his parents, whom he describes as his best friends. “With what I had going on, on the days I didn’t have it, I was able to come here and my teammates picked me up,” Johnson said. “I saw our medical team smiling, our video room guys (smiling), it’s like one big family. Day in and day out, you see Keldon Johnson with all the energy, but the people who are here with me, they make this possible for me.”
• If the Rockets can’t rally from their 2-0 deficit and win their first-round series against a Lakers team missing its MVP, the organization will have some hard questions to answer this summer about what changes are necessary to take the next step forward, writes Varun Shankar of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). Alperen Sengun must play a key role in any comeback effort, according to William Guillory of The Athletic, who says Houston’s center is about to play the two most important games of his career on Friday and Sunday.