Marcus Morris referred to the young players shining on the Memphis Grizzlies roster as "YNs" during a nationally televised sports broadcast.
On the Tuesday morning episode of First Take, Morris sat with Stephen A. Smith and Chiney Ogwumike to chat about the play-in game between the Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors and used a term not often used on ESPN to describe Ja Morant and company.
According to Morris, the Warriors were going to come out on top, but the Grizzlies are "YNs" looking to run the court in the playoffs. “YN” is a slang abbreviation commonly used on social media to refer to a ‘young n***a’—typically describing a young, energetic Black man.
"I gotta agree with both of you guys. I think it will be a really tough game. I really like the Grizzlies, the YNs, they're really coming to play. They're going to be excited, they're going to be ready to go," Morris said.
The Memphis Grizzlies roster is made up entirely of players in their 20s, with the youngest being GG Jackson at 20 and the oldest, John Konchar, at 29.
Morris is currently serving as an ESPN analyst for Get Up and First Take. He started earlier this month and had already given several wild takes that had NBA fans scratching their heads: he claimed the Oklahoma City Thunder didn't have a deep enough team and were healthy all season.
Both claims were outlandish since the Thunder had been hit with the injury bug all season, and they're one of the best teams in not only the Western Conference but the whole league, at the No. 1 spot in the conference. Morris also claimed Kawhi Leonard is the most feared player in the NBA, not Steph Curry, who Stephen A. Smith picked for the argument.
