Why Ja Morant, Grizzlies turned 'it's a parade inside my city' into postgame victory chant

Gilbert McGregor

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Why Ja Morant, Grizzlies turned 'it's a parade inside my city' into postgame victory chant image

There aren't too many teams having as much fun as the Grizzlies.

They dance their way to the court for warm-ups. They do their "Big Memphis" rendition of the Cha-Cha Slide during pregame introductions. And after wins, they take turns crashing each other's walk-off interviews.

Since the Grizzlies are very much in the business of winning this season, there have been a lot of crashed interviews.

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While you never know which player is going to crash the interview until the moment comes, you can count on the fact that somebody is going to utter the phrase "there's a parade inside my city, yeah!"

And while the Grizzlies do hope to celebrate a 2023 NBA title with a parade in Memphis this summer, that's not where the new catchphrase stems from.

As Ja Morant explains in the above clip, the team got the phrase from a YoungBoy Never Broke Again's (NBA YoungBoy) song titled "Fresh Prince Of Utah," which opens with that exact line.

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The line itself has taken a life of its own, as Memphis' social media team cleverly replaced NBA YoungBoy with Morant on the album cover to promote voting for this year's All-Star Game, which takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah.

And while NBA YoungBoy hails from Baton Rouge, La., the title of the song is a play on the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," as he similarly looked to make a new home in Utah.

As shared by veteran Danny Green earlier in the season, NBA YoungBoy is by far the most popular artist in the Grizzlies' locker room.

Rookie Jake LaRavia supported Green's claim during an appearance on the "Just Grizzlies" podcast.

Given the popularity of NBA YoungBoy in the locker room, it makes sense that the team continuously uses his line as a go-to phrase.

If the Grizzlies' season does end with a parade running through the streets of Memphis, it would be quite the poetic ending to a season that's been very fun.

Gilbert McGregor

Gilbert McGregor Photo

Gilbert McGregor first joined The Sporting News in 2018 as a content producer for Global editions of NBA.com. Before covering the game, McGregor played basketball collegiately at Wake Forest, graduating with a Communication degree in 2016. McGregor began covering the NBA during the 2017-18 season and has been on hand for a number of league events.