LeBron James is certainly no stranger to the spotlight, be it for his continued high level of play at 41 years old, or comments on podcast appearances.
While James is looking to lead the Los Angeles Lakers in remaining afloat without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, he’s landed in hot water over criticism for the city of Memphis. James doubled down on his sentiment when asked for clarification, and also mentioned Cleveland and Milwaukee as additional cities he isn’t fond of.
So when the Bucks defeated the Grizzlies on Easter Sunday, their social media team used the opportunity for apparent jab at James.
Won the matchup between everyone’s two favorite cities. pic.twitter.com/an4K53O87B
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) April 5, 2026
“Won the matchup between everyone’s two favorite cities,” the Bucks wrote in the caption of their post.
What NBA cities LeBron James doesn’t like
Cleveland Cavaliers
Although James is an Akron, Ohio, native and still owns a house in the Cleveland area, he somewhat surprisingly revealed it’s not enjoyable to return.
“I don’t like going home either. S—, and I’m from there.” James said, per Law Murray of The Athletic. “People are ridiculous. They also get mad at my son being on the team too. So what are we talking about? They need to put their energy to other things that are important.”
Despite James sharing that he doesn’t like playing in Cleveland, he routinely has performed well in his homecomings and those games annually are circled on the NBA calendar.
Memphis Grizzlies
When the four-time NBA champion was speaking candidly about playing in Memphis, he mentioned others throughout the league sharing the same sentiment and largely based his disdain in the The Westin Memphis Beale Street hotel located across the street from the FedEx Forum.
James advocated for moving the team to Nashville, implying it would make for a better experience.
“I’m not talking about this city, like the people in Memphis,” James clarified over the weekend. “I don’t like staying at the Hyatt. What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with that? Nothing. What are we talking about? What are we talking about? People need to chill the hell out. Thank you.”
Milwaukee Bucks
James’ original comments were made while golfing on the “Bob Does Sports” show and though the focus lied on his critical remarks of Memphis despite his mentioning Milwaukee as well.
“Did they miss that one? They didn’t see that? I said Milwaukee as well,” James noted. “I’m 41-years-old and there’s two cities I do not like playing in right now. That’s Milwaukee and that’s Memphis. What is the problem?”
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
