On Saturday night, the Memphis Grizzlies will not only host a conference finals game for the first time in franchise history but will also host, arguably, the biggest sporting event in the city’s history. At 5-0 on their home floor so far this post-season and after recovering from a rough first seven quarters to force overtime in a Game 2 loss in San Antonio, the Grizzlies and their fans have plenty of hope for extending the series. But, down 0-2, the prospect of the team’s season ending in Memphis on Memorial Day is a real one. And with culture-changing folk hero Tony Allen entering free-agency this summer, there’s at least a small chance that we could be witnessing more than just the waning days of a playoff run.
Under Allen’s manic influence, the Grizzlies and their fans have developed one of the league’s more colorful cultures. For the benefit of those around the broader NBA community turning their full attention to Memphis for perhaps the first time, here’s one reporter’s alphabetical guide to Griz Land:
“All heart. Grit. Grind.” — The origin of contemporary Griz culture, from February 8, 2011, in Oklahoma City:
This now-legendary interview came after a 105-101 overtime road win in which the Grizzlies were playing without ostensible stars O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay. Tony Allen, new to the team and barely in the rotation for most of the first two months of the season, scored 27 points, had 5 steals, and sent the game to overtime with a three-point play in the final minute of regulation.
At the time, it was as much about performance as phraseology, and the best, if largely forgotten, moment — Marc Gasol interrupting Allen’s courtside soliloquy for a little head tap of deep gratitude — is unspoken. But this is what launched Allen into the cherished Memphis continuum of subcultural characters and rough-edged raconteurs, with the likes of Sputnik Monroe, Dewey Phillips, and Rufus Thomas.
This was a man who emerged as a transformative on-court force, beloved teammate, and fan fetish object after beating up a teammate in a minor gambling dispute; who turns playing basketball — and, more so, cheering from the bench — into a form of expressive, lunatic performance art; who, obviously, delivers ridiculous, inspirational post-game interviews that evolve into citywide rallying cries; and who generally approaches everything in life with a loopy joie de vivre that reminds us why we enjoy this stuff so much.
Maybe a few dozen fans exulted in the moment on Twitter as it happened, with local radio’s Chris Vernon Show turning the audio into a recurring soundbite the next day. But this cult classic didn’t become best-seller until later in the season. (See: “Tony Allen T-Shirt”) These days, “grit, grind” always seems on the verge of ossifying into a used-up cliché, but the man they now call the Grindfather won’t let it.
Allen Iverson — The only player in franchise history — league history? — to never play a home game and still have his jersey pop up in the playoff crowd.
“Ante Up” — Tony Allen’s self-selected theme song is Future’s “Go Harder,” which now emerges from FedExForum speakers at appropriate moments. But this 2000 ode to desperation and thievery from Brooklyn rap duo M.O.P. is the people’s anthem. On the court, Allen is known to kidnap fools.
