Danny Green has weighed in on the latest Ja Morant-Memphis controversy, and his reaction was blunt. Green argued that the Grizzlies’ reported handling of Morant on Fan Appreciation Night was disrespectful not only to the player, but to the fans in the building as well.
His criticism centered around reports about Morant being told roughly an hour before tipoff that he would not be participating in the jersey giveaway that involved the rest of the active roster. Morant was the only Grizzlies player not allowed by the team to give away a jersey that night.
Fan Appreciation Night is supposed to be simple: players acknowledge the people who filled the arena all season, and supporters leave with something memorable. Excluding the franchise’s biggest star from that ritual, especially on such short notice, changes the mood of the event. It turns what should feel communal into something pointed. Green’s larger argument, based on the comments attributed to him, is that this was not just an internal team choice. It affected paying fans who may have come hoping for a Ja Morant moment, a jersey, a signature, or simply a memory attached to the player most closely tied to Memphis basketball culture in recent years.
“I think it’s disrespectful to him obviously, but I also think it’s disrespectful to the fans. Like, a fan could have gotten a Ja Morant jersey an interaction. He may not be a fan favorite to you guys, but to the city, to the culture, to the people. His jersey sells. People but it. People want it. People want his signature. Regardless if he’s been successful there as of late or not, he was successful before and he might be successful after. So like somebody would want that jersey. Like that jersey holds value to a lot of fans. And for him individually like an hour before like what do you expect him to do at that point? Go home like you could have notified him hours beforehand. At that point I don’t need to come to the arena if I’m not giving a fan appreciation yall obviously don’t want me here. Do I go home after this? Like all right cool I’ll just go home….. Trying to like take him out of team pictures like you’re trying to banish this man ever existed from this year. Like it’s kind of wild.”
Danny Green says it’s disrespectful what the Memphis Grizzlies did to Ja Morant telling him a hour before not to show up to fan appreciation night:
“I think it’s disrespectful to him obviously, but I also think it’s disrespectful to the fans. Like, a fan could have gotten a Ja… pic.twitter.com/KSxeZZlpOi
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 13, 2026
Morant remains the face most associated with the Grizzlies’ modern rise, and even after suspensions, injuries, and organizational tension, his standing with large parts of the fan base is still obvious. That is what makes the episode resonate. This was not some anonymous bench player quietly omitted from a team activity. This was Ja Morant, on a night built around gratitude, apparently left standing apart while others took part.
Green’s outrage, then, is really about more than one jersey giveaway. It is about the message an organization sends when it appears to isolate one of its most important players in public. Whether Memphis intended that message or not, the scene has been received that way by many around the league. And once that happens, Fan Appreciation Night stops being about appreciation at all. It becomes another chapter in a relationship that increasingly looks strained, visible, and difficult to explain away.
