Memphis Grizzlies: Ja Morant hopes to convert young Warriors fans, despite ‘disrespectful’ gesture

 Memphis Grizzlies star Jaa Morant faced more than Stephen Curry and the Warriors during the team's quest for a tenth consecutive win—he had to deal with a huge contingency of Golden State fans inside a FedEx forum.

It's one of the unfortunate plights of being one of the newest franchises in the NBA and a small market. You have local Memphians who pledged allegiance to some franchise long before Memphis had an NBA team.

These fans come out in noticeable crowds when their team comes to Memphis. They are usually the big market teams that regularly appear in nationally televised games: the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls and Warriors.

Local Golden State fans were loud inside the FedEx Forum and the cheer reached a jarring halt when Jay Morant hit a win-sealing basket at the end of the game in front of a small group of kids donning Golden State Warriors jerseys.

Ja Morant hopes to convert young Golden State fan into a Memphis Grizzlies fan

Morant, as it appears, was staring at a group of young fans after making a dazzling score. At least three young children raised their hands in hopes of getting a high five or fist bump.

Morant looked at the children as if they were aliens—and rightly so. These kids stayed up against him and Memphis all night.

sorry im just too 🔒 in ..
on another level 😅 https://t.co/C2y21tIU4T

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) January 12, 2022

After the game, Morant shared what he thought of the moment.

"He was disrespectful with that jersey," Morant said.

When a reporter asked if he had pity on the poor little child, he replied without hesitation, "No."

“We are in Memphis. It looked like he wanted to be happy, but he had that jersey on,” Morant said, laughing gravely as his thought ended.

“I apologize to him. But, in that moment, brother, take off that jersey and then pat me,” he said, laughing to himself. 

gotta get the kid a @JaMorant jersey 😂 🎤 pic.twitter.com/fWvomiWhJq

— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) January 12, 2022

“If anyone finds his information, I will send him [a Grizzlies jersey] myself,” Morant said, sensing the opportunity to turn the young man into a Memphis Grizzlies fan.

It shouldn't take long to convert these big market fans into grizz fans. Morant is undoubtedly the most exciting basketball player in the world right now.

Soon he'll become an all-star and probably on the way to some hardware. He is currently the favorite to be named Most Improved Player, but he is only a few places away from being the favorite for league MVP as well.

As the season progresses, Morant is going to blow those big-market fans out of existence as if he's Thanos.