Some Love for My Memphis Grizzlies

I want to talk about another team that I am a fan of today.

I love the NBA as you all know. When I was a kid I was a big time Seattle SuperSonics fan. Kemp and Payton were my guys. I loved that team as much as I loved the Fab Five. The Sonics were a blast to watch, they were good and Kemp was the man. He is the best in game dunker ever. End of conversation. When they unexpectedly, and unfairly, moved to OKC, I followed them there. They had drafted KD, they weren’t great but had potential and I just wanted to stay put. They then got awesome. They drafted James Harden and Russell Westbrook. They made a push to the Finals. They looked like the team of the future. Then they traded Harden. Then KD left. I was done. I still rooted for Russ because I liked his game, and when they traded for Paul George I thought they was a tremendous move. But in the meantime I needed a new team. The Sonics didn’t exist, the Thunder were down to bare bones and I was in no man’s land as an NBA fan.

I looked around the teams and kept checking teams off I didn’t want to root for. No Texas teams because I don’t like teams from there. No LA teams because that’s just front running. The same could be said about the Celtics. Golden State was a no go to because they were the ones that lured away KD. I kicked around Toronto, but they were too bland for me. I decided to go with Phoenix because I liked Devin Booker, but I abandoned them pretty quick. It came down to two teams due to location. I live in Saint Louis, and the two closest teams are Chicago and Memphis. It was an easy choice for Memphis because I had been to a few games there, I like the city and they had just drafted Ja Morant, who I adored coming out of college. So three years ago I decided to ride with the Grizzlies.

Since drafting Ja, Memphis been on an upward trajectory. They weren’t very good his rookie year, but you could see the potential. You have Ja, Jaren Jackson Jr and Dillon Brooks. That’s a star, a stretch big and a great perimeter defender. They also had/have a great, and deep bench. I was excited to be a fan of an up and coming young team. Then last season they burst onto the scene. They made the play in. They beat Golden State in Golden State to make the playoffs. They took a game off the Jazz in round one. I was pumped. I expected, and still do, bigger and better things this year. They started slower than I hoped, but Ja didn’t. He came out of the gates on fire. He was doing it all and finally getting some much due credit. But then he got hurt. I was bummed. The Grizz sat at 9-10 when he got hurt, and I was nervous. Ja has missed a week already, with about 2-4 more before he gets back. I figured that this season may be a wash now. Without their star I just assume they’d struggle to keep afloat.

Well that hasn’t happened. The Grizzlies are currently on a five game win streak. They have pushed their record to 14-10. They have played remarkable defense and have been dynamite on offense. All of this without Ja. I was pleasantly stunned by this. I still am. But I saw a stat last night after they beat Miami that blew me away. During this win streak, again without Ja, and Kyle Anderson I should also add, the Grizzlies have not trailed for one second. All of the past five games, no team has held a lead against Memphis. That is unheard of. I mean, I’d expect a team to lead 4-2 or 2-0. Hell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a team held a lead in the second half. But no team has. I was astounding. I was baffled. But most of all, I was so happy. My team has not only survived an injury to their star player, they’ve thrived. They’ve won five in a row. One of those wins was by 73 points. That’s the biggest margin of victory in NBA history. I was watching that game on my phone amazed. I assumed the Heat were going to beat them last night, but it was a wire to wire 15 point win. I know this will end, most likely soon, but it’s been so awesome to see my favorite NBA team do what they’ve done this past week. This is an accomplishment. This is a big deal. And it’s shown me that I cannot count this team out no matter what. They have a very good squad, with lots of depth and they are well coached.

I cannot wait to see, in person, the Grizzlies play next month. I can’t wait until Ja comes back. And I can’t wait to see how they finish up the season. I’m fully back on them as a top 6 seed in the West, and I could see them winning a round. I’m glad I went with the Grizz three years ago, and this win streak has more than paid off on my newfound fandom. Go Grizz, and let’s keep this win streak as long as we can.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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