The Grizzlies look to get back on track tonight against the 15-24 Sacramento Kings. But tonight’s game isn’t about match-ups or stylistic contrasts, it’s about the Grizzlies fixing themselves.
And the issue of the day isn’t on the court anyway, it’s all the off-court intrigue currently festering around the team. So, today, let’s make that the subject of the usual three points:
- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Grizzlies controlling owner Robert Pera and team CEO Jason Levien.
1. The Pera Meeting: The Commercial Appeal reported yesterday that majority owner Robert Pera met with Mike Conley and Marc Gasol while the team was in Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors earlier this month, with the heavy implication that this meeting has been internally disruptive.
I’d say the details are very much unclear. Who instigated the meeting? (It was initially characterized as an invitation from Pera but was later softened to something more neutral. I’ve heard it two different ways: One that Pera asked for the meeting, and another that Conley and Gasol asked for it.) What was talked about? (I heard, unsurprisingly, that Gasol and Conley made a case for keeping the current core together for the remainder of the season.) To what degree was it actually disruptive?
There’s certainly a chance that this meeting may have been unwise, counterproductive, or poorly staged, but even if it was at Pera’s invitation — which, again, is very much unclear — I think some of the initial reaction to it was curious. I see nothing “weird” or perplexing about it. In fact, the potential rationale would seem pretty obvious.
This Grizzlies are facing very serious organizational decisions in the near future. It’s a near certainty that Conley and Gasol will be here next season, and, for various reasons, they’re probably the only core figures you can say that about. It’s not surprising that new ownership might want to take their pulse as part of their decision-making process.
