Welcome back to The Deep Dive, where we dig into
the shared source material to pull out the stories
you need to hear. And today, we've got a really
compelling one. We're talking about a franchise
that really had to fight for its identity. A
team built on, well, tenacity and a deep, deep
connection to its city. the Memphis Grizzlies.
It's an incredible story, really, full of these
massive highs and some pretty crushing lows.
Right. And you have to remember, this is a team
that started out as almost an afterthought up
in Canada. And now they're the only major pro
sports team in Memphis, one of only four in the
whole state of Tennessee. That's a huge anchor
for a city. So our mission today is pretty straightforward.
We're going to track the entire evolution of
this franchise. Which means we have to start
with those very volatile early years in Vancouver.
Exactly. Then we'll dig into the era that really
gave them their soul, the grit and grind years.
And then bring it all the way to today with the
high octane and you could say sometimes tumultuous
John Morant era. Our sources are just packed
with the history, the big trades, the cultural
moments. We're going to navigate some infamous
trades, some major ownership changes and the
philosophies that really dictated their success.
Let's get into it. OK, so let's start at the
beginning. The mid -90s. The NBA is looking to
expand. Right. They're looking north. And so
in 1995, the Vancouver Grizzlies are born in
the very same season as the Toronto Raptors.
This was the league's big return to Canada. And
there was a lot of excitement, sure. But the
reality on the ground was tough from day one.
It was. Just look at where they were placed.
The Midwest Division of the Western Conference.
Geographically, that just makes no sense. None
at all. Think about the travel. You're a team
in Vancouver and your division rivals are in,
what, Utah, Denver, Dallas, Houston. San Antonio.
San Antonio. The travel was just crippling. It
made it so hard to recruit players, so hard to
keep them. It was a huge factor in why they struggled
so much out of the gate. And the name itself,
Grizzlies, that wasn't even the first choice,
was it? No, and this is a great little piece
of trivia. The original idea was the Vancouver
Mounties. The Mounties? Yeah, but the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, the RCMP, they actually stepped
in and formally objected. Wow. So the franchise
had to pivot and they landed on Grizzlies, which
was a nod to the grizzly bear, you know, the
big local animal in British Columbia. A move
that probably saved us from some very awkward
branding down the line. Probably. So for six
seasons, they called General Motors Place home.
But to put it mildly, those six seasons were
defined by losing. A lot of losing. A historic
amount. They never won more than 19 games in
a single season while they were in Vancouver.
19. And it was that combination of things, the
losing, the brutal travel. a really weak Canadian
dollar compared to the U .S. dollar, the economics
just didn't work. So the pressure just kept mounting
until, well, it broke. It did. The official process
started on March 26, 2001. The team formally
applied to relocate. And the NBA didn't fight
it. No, they saw the writing on the wall. On
July 3, 2001, the move to Memphis, Tennessee
was approved. The Raptors were suddenly the only
NBA team left in Canada. So they get to Memphis
and you'd think, OK, new city, new name. A grizzly
bear in the Mississippi Delta doesn't quite fit.
That's what the ownership thought, too. They
were exploring a name change. But the community
pushed back. They pushed back hard. The locals
really wanted to keep the name Grizzlies. Why,
though? What was the connection? It's this forgotten
piece of local sports history. Memphis actually
had a pro football team. in the old world football
league back in 74 and 75 they were called the
memphis grizzlies no way yeah so for the city
the name already had roots it felt like theirs
which made the whole relocation feel a little
less you know foreign and that move created one
of the great geographical oddities in all of
sports it really did moving from the pacific
northwest all the way to memphis deep in the
south suddenly made memphis the easternmost city
in the western conference which It still is today.
It's just a strange quirk of history. Completely.
And before they built the FedEx Forum, they started
out in a pretty iconic Memphis building. The
Pyramid. The Pyramid Arena. A giant. You know,
pyramid. They played their first three seasons
there from 2001 to 2004 before moving into their
current home. And it's important to note, Memphis
wasn't a total basketball desert before the NBA
arrived. Not at all. They had the Memphis Sounds
and the ABA from 1970 to 75. So the appetite
was there. The city was just waiting for the
right team. OK, so the franchise finds its permanent
home. But now the real work begins. They have
to actually build a winning team. And that starts
with a truly game -changing draft. The 2001 draft
is probably the single most important moment
in the team's early history. A total clean slate.
And they took full advantage. They made a huge
trade with the Atlanta Hawks to get the rights
to the third overall pick. Paul Gasol. Paul Gasol.
And then with their own pick, number six, they
took Shane Battier. A really smart, defensive
-minded player. Exactly. And they weren't done.
The GM, Billy Knight, also traded their point
guard, Mike Bibby, to the Kings for Jason Williams.
White chocolate. The one and only. He brought
an immediate jolt of excitement to that new market.
So that's a massive talent injection right away.
And Powell, he delivered on the hype almost immediately.
He was spectacular. He wins the NBA Rookie of
the Year award that first season. He was the
franchise's first legitimate bankable star. Just
a level of skill they had never had before. And
yet, even after landing the Rookie of the Year,
GM Billy Knight gets fired. While the teams still
finished 23 and 59, the ownership felt they needed
a complete cultural reset. The losing mentality
from Vancouver was still lingering. So they go
out and make a huge splash. A legendary splash.
In 2002, they hire Hall of Famer Jerry West as
their new general manager. A logo himself. And
he didn't just tweak the roster, he changed the
entire culture. He wins executive of the year
in 2004 because he just overhauled everything.
He fired the coach, brought in the veteran Hubie
Brown, and he brought in key role players like
Mike Miller and James Posey to add toughness
and shooting around pow. So West is building
the first truly successful Grizzlies team. But
we have to talk about this. The skeleton in the
closet from the Vancouver days. Oh, the Otis
Thorpe trade. A mistake that might have cost
them a shot at a title. It's a cautionary tale
for every front office in sports. Don't trade
unprotected future first round picks. So what
happened? Back in 1997, the Vancouver front office
traded their 2003 first round pick, completely
unprotected, to the Detroit Pistons for a veteran
forward named Otis Thorpe. And of course, the
Grizzlies were terrible in the years leading
up to 2003. Just terrible. Which meant that pick
became more and more valuable. It ended up being
the number two overall pick in the 2003 draft.
One of the most loaded drafts in history. An
all -time draft class. So the Grizzlies are just
washing as they could have had their choice of
Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, or Dwyane Wade.
And they gave that up for Otis Thorpe, who...
Played only 47 games for them before they let
him go. Unbelievable. It's brutal. They basically
traded a future Hall of Famer for less than a...
season of an aging bet. The only saving grace
is that Detroit used the pick on Darko Milicic,
who was a bust, but still, the opportunity was
lost. That's a huge what if that hangs over everything.
It really is. But even with that massive hole,
Jerry West gets the team to the playoffs for
the first time ever in 2004. He does. Hubie Brown
wins coach of the year, the team wins 50 games
for the first time, and they get the sixth seed.
It was a complete turnaround. But the playoffs
were a different story. Very harsh lesson. A
vertical learning curve, as they say. They got
swept four new in the first round by the Spurs.
Ouch. And it became a pattern. They got swept
again in 2005 by the Suns and then swept a third
time in 2006 by the Mavericks. Three straight
playoff appearances, three straight sweeps. Yeah.
It showed they could win in the regular season,
but they just weren't built for the postseason
grind. We also see Hubie Brown step down. There's
friction with the new coach, Mike Fratello. it
starts to unravel a bit. It does. And then Pau
Gasol braces foot before the 2006 -07 season,
and the team just craters. They finish with the
worst record in the league, 22 -60. And that
was it for Jerry West? That was it. He resigned.
He'd brought them relevance and respectability,
but not the ultimate prize. Which brings in a
new GM, Chris Wallace, who makes a key draft
pick right away. In the 2007 draft, they get
the fourth pick and select Mike Conley Jr. The
future. The absolute foundation for the next
decade. And then in 2008 comes the trade that
officially ends the Pau Gasol era. And at the
time, this was seen as an absolutely terrible,
lopsided trade. Oh, people were furious. Yeah.
On February 1st, 2008, they send Pau to the Lakers.
And in return, they get back Kwame Brown, Javaris
Crittenton, Aaron McKee, two first -round picks,
and... The hidden gem. The rights to Pau's younger
brother, Marc Gasol, who was playing over in
Spain. Nobody knew who... Marc Gasol was at the
time. The Lakers get pow and immediately win
titles. It looked like a fleece job. It did.
But Marc's development into this all -world defensive
center completely flipped the script on that
trade. It ended up being maybe the best trade
in franchise history. Just accidentally. Before
that new era really takes hold, there were some
strange moments. A few false starts for sure.
They drafted Hashim Thabit second overall in
2009. A huge bust. And the Allen Iverson experiment.
Oh, that was bizarre. He signed a one -year deal,
played three games. None of them in Memphis complained
about his role and was gone. Just a weird footnote.
But slowly, the pieces are coming together. They
trade for Zach Randolph. Zeebo. And Marc Gasol
is starting to look like the real deal. And with
Mike Conley running the point, you could see
something building. They went 40 -42 in 2009
-10. The identity was shifting. Right. It wasn't
about finesse anymore. No. It was becoming tough.
Physical and rugged. Which brings us to the most
iconic period in the team's history. The grit
and grind era. And that phrase, grit and grind,
it wasn't just marketing, was it? No, it was
a whole philosophy, a tactical commitment. It
was built on two things. One. suffocating disruptive
defense, and two, a powerful inside -out offense.
And the stats really back that up. They do. In
that 2010 -11 season, they led the entire league
in steals. They just harassed you on defense.
And on offense, since they couldn't really shoot
threes, they just pounded the ball inside to
Zeebo and Marc Gasol and dominated the paint.
This whole identity really formed around four
key players. The big four. The core four. You
had Mike Conley, the steady leader at the point.
Zach Randolph, Z -Bo, just a beast inside. His
number 50 is retired now. Marc Gasol, the brilliant
defensive anchor. And then the heart and soul
of the whole thing, Tony Allen. The grindfather.
The grindfather. He was defense in human form.
His intensity just set the tone for the entire
team. His number nine is getting retired soon,
too. Those four guys were Memphis basketball.
And the first real payoff for this new identity.
comes in the 2011 playoffs. They get in as an
eighth seed. An eighth seed, yeah. And their
opponent, the number one seed, San Antonio Spurs.
The team that had always owned them. The expectation
was another sweep. Of course. But this Grizzlies
team was different. They went in there and they
just shocked the world. It was just a series
of firsts for the franchise. A total breakthrough.
They got their first ever playoff game win. their
first ever home playoff game win. And then they
won the series 4 -2, their first ever playoff
series victory. That atmosphere in the FedEx
Forum must have been electric. Legendary. It
was just this explosion of joy and validation
for the city and the team. And that put them
in some pretty elite company. It did. It was
only the fourth time an eight seed had beaten
a one seed in NBA history. They went on to lose
a type seven game series to OKC, but the statement
was made. They missed the playoffs the next year,
but then. They hit their absolute peak in the
2012 -13 season. That was the year a new owner,
Robert Pera, comes in. And they make a huge trade
mid -season. Trading away Rudy Gay. Yeah, their
leading scorer. For more defensive -minded guys
like Tayshaun Prince, it was a signal that they
were all in on grit and grind. And it worked.
It worked perfectly. They finished with the best
record in franchise history, 56 -26. And Marc
Gasol gets named Defensive Player of the Year.
He was a monster that season, and that playoff
run was the high point. They got revenge on the
Clippers, who beat them the year before. Then
they beat a great OKC team. Reaching the Western
Conference Finals for the first time ever. The
first and only time. It was the culmination of
everything they'd built. But then, the old nemesis
was waiting. The Spurs. And they were just on
another level. They swept the Grizzlies 4 -0,
a really painful anticlimactic end to a magical
season. The next few years, they were always
in the mix, but you could see the physical toll.
of that style starting to add up. For sure. They
made the playoffs seven straight years. The 2015
run was memorable. A Mike Conley masked series.
Yes. He breaks his face, comes back wearing a
protective mask, and they actually go up 2 -1
on the Warriors who were on their way to a title.
Just pure toughness. The wheels finally came
off in 2016. The injuries just decimated them.
It was brutal. They set an NBA record that year
by using 28 different players. 28? Just a revolving
door. And they got swept by the Spurs again in
the first round. And that was... pretty much
the end of the era. It was. In the summer of
2017, Zeebo left for the Kings and Tony Allen
left for the Pelicans. The grit and grind chapter
was officially closed. And the years immediately
after were pretty rough. Very rough. They tied
the franchise record with a 19 game losing streak
in 2018. And then in 2019, they traded the last
two pillars. Marc Gasol goes to Toronto. And
wins a championship that same year. A bittersweet
moment. And finally, Mike Conley is traded to
the Jazz. But the team immediately announced
they'd retire as number 11. A sign of ultimate
respect. A total reset. The end of one era and
the beginning of a completely new one. Which
brings us to 2019 and the John Morant era. And
this is a total philosophical shift from the
top down. A radical shift. The owner, Robert
Pera. basically cleaned house. He wanted a modern
analytics driven front office. Chris Wallace,
the longtime GM, is moved to a scouting role.
Right. And they promote a young executive, Zachary
Kleinman, to be the new GM. Kleinman's first
moves were to hire Taylor Jenkins as coach. And
then, well, he got very lucky in the draft lottery.
The timing was perfect. They land the number
two overall pick in the 2019 draft. And they
take John Moran. an explosive athletic point
guard who was the complete opposite of the old
grit and grind style. They also trade up to get
Brandon Clark. A new core was born overnight.
And Morant's impact was just immediate. Instant
electricity. He brought a swagger and a high
-flying style back to Memphis. He wins rookie
of the year almost unanimously. 99 out of 100
first -place votes. It was clear right away that
the direction had changed for the better. By
their second year? 2020 -21, they're already
in the playoff hunt. Yeah, they used that new
play -in tournament. They beat the Spurs, and
then they have this amazing game against Steph
Curry and the Warriors. Morant goes off for 35.
And they win, clinching the eighth seed. They
lost to the Jazz in the first round, but they
even stole a game in that series. You could see
the potential. And then... The 2021 -22 season
happens, and they make a huge leap. A massive
leap. From a plucky playing team to a legitimate
contender, they finish 56 -26. Tying the franchise
record for wins. Tying the record, yeah. And
they win their first ever division title and
get the number two seat in the West. They lost
to the Warriors in the second round, but the
message was sent that Grizzlies were back. For
sure. And that success carried into the next
year. They won 51 games, won the division again,
got the second seat again. And that was the year
Jaron Jackson Jr. really broke out. He did. He
made the All -Star team and he won Defensive
Player of the Year, just like Marc Gasol did.
It showed that even with this new fast -paced
style, elite defense was still in their DNA.
But that playoff run ended in disappointment.
A big disappointment. They got upset by the 7th
seed Lakers in the first round. Some of their
youth and inexperience really showed in that
series. And if the grit and grind era ended because
of age and attrition, the 2023 -24 season was
derailed by... Well, volatility and injuries?
It was a disaster of a year. Morant was suspended
for the first 25 games for off -court issues.
He comes back, looks great, and then he tears
his shoulder and is out for the season. And the
injuries just piled up from there. It was like
2016 all over again. A total repeat. Key guys,
they brought in like Marcus Smart, Derrick Rose.
They barely played. They finished 27 -55 and
set another league record for the most players
used in a season. So when you look at their record
over the last five years, it's just this wild
roller coaster. It's incredible. Two 50 -plus
win seasons and two division titles, sandwiched
around a play -in appearance and a total collapse
due to injury. The highs are incredibly high,
but the potential for things to go south is always
there. It's a fascinating dynamic. And beyond
just the wins and losses, this team has done
an amazing job of weaving the culture of Memphis
into its identity. More than maybe any other
team in the league. We've talked about the arenas
from GM Place to the Pyramid to the FedEx Forum,
but it's the traditions inside those buildings
that really matter. Absolutely. And you have
to start with the mascot. Grizz. Who has this
really touching story connected to the community.
Yeah. In 2007, the performer who plays Grizz
was diagnosed with cancer. And the team started
this Friends of Grizz program to raise money
for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which
is such a vital institution in Memphis. It created
this deep, meaningful bond. And then you have
the visual signature of the playoff runs. The
growl towels. The gold growl towels. They're
everywhere during the playoffs. And they always
have these perfect. defiant slogans on them.
Slogans like grit and grind, all heart, and my
personal favorite, ain't no running in the M.
It's so perfectly Memphis. It is. But maybe the
most organic tradition of all is the whoop that
trick chant. Which came completely out of nowhere.
Totally spontaneous. It's from a song in the
movie Hustle and Flow, which was filmed in Memphis.
And during a heated playoff series against the
Clippers in 2013, the crowd just started chanting
it. It wasn't planned. It wasn't corporate. It
was just real. That's amazing. And that same
level of cultural connection shows up in their
uniforms? Especially the city edition uniforms.
They've been incredible. The first one in 2017
was a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Others
have used lettering inspired by the I Am A Man
sanitation strike banners from 1968. They've
paid tribute to Stax Records and Isaac Hayes,
to the Memphis rap scene, even to the city's
pro wrestling history. That's a level of detail
and respect you just don't see anywhere else.
It's brilliant. It makes the team feel like it
truly belongs to the city and its history. Now,
all that identity and toughness created some
pretty intense rivalries, almost all of them
forged in the playoffs. Let's start with the
Clippers. The Clippers rivalry was just pure
animosity. It was their lob city flash against
the Grizzlies grit and grind physicality. And
that got personal. Very personal. You had Zeebo
and Blake Griffin constantly getting into it.
There was the infamous floppers giveaway where
the Grizzlies gave out flip flops to mock the
Clippers. It was nasty. Then you have the Thunder.
A rivalry with a bit more history. Yeah, it goes
back to the Vancouver -Seattle days. But it really
heated up with four different playoff matchups.
The 2014 series was an all -timer. An epic seven
-game war. Four straight games went to overtime.
But it ended in heartbreak for Memphis when Zeebo
got suspended for Game 7. And finally, the oldest
rivalry. The one against the Spurs. The Spurs
are the ultimate measuring stick for this franchise.
It started with that first -ever playoff sweep
in 2004. But it also includes... Their greatest
moment, the 2011 upset. That eight seed over
one seed upset was the moment the Grizzlies arrived.
But in the end, the Spurs always seemed to have
their number when it really mattered. Sweeping
them in the conference finals in 2013. And sweeping
them again in 2016. The Spurs have consistently
been the mountain they just couldn't quite climb.
So when you zoom out and look at the whole picture,
you see this constant cycle of change, especially
in the front office. A lot of turnover. Yeah.
You go from Stu Jackson in Vancouver to Jerry
West building the first winner to Chris Wallace
overseeing grit and grind. And now to Zach Kleiman
in the analytics era. Each GM brought a totally
different philosophy. And even without a championship,
they've built a real legacy. A strong one. You've
got Hall of Famers who played there, like Pau
Gasol and Vince Carter. Hall of Fame contributors
like Jerry West and Hubie Brown. And most importantly,
they've honored their own. They really have.
Retiring the numbers of Zeebo, Marc Gasol, and
soon Tony Allen and Mike Conley, it shows a deep
respect for that era and what it meant to the
city. So to wrap this all up... The main theme
seems to be a franchise that has constantly had
to define and redefine itself, navigating these
incredible highs and devastating lows. I think
that's exactly right. And the biggest takeaway
for me is how critical those key personnel decisions
were. Jerry West coming in, trading Powell for
the rights to Mark, Kleinman drafting John Morant.
Those moments changed everything. And the way
they've woven Memphis culture into their very
fabric is just unique. Which leaves us with a
final thought to connect all of this. The John
Morant era is defined by... incredible talent
but also by that volatility we talked about the
injuries the off -court issues it feels unstable
and given the franchise's history of these massive
swings between success and rebuilding it raises
a really important question for you to think
about How can the current front office with this
amazing young core learn from the mistakes of
the past? How do they avoid the injury -fueled
collapse that ended the grit and grind era and
that we saw a preview of in 2024? How do they
finally achieve the kind of sustained championship
-level success that has always been just out
of reach? How do they finally break the cycle
of boom and bust that has defined their entire
history? That's the challenge ahead. And that's
something for you to mull over until our next
deep dive. Welcome to The Debate. Today we're
diving deep into the history of the Memphis Grizzlies.
And it's a really distinctive... Almost improbable
history when you look at it. I mean, this is
a franchise that truly embodies perseverance.
It shifted from the struggling origins as an
expansion team up in Vancouver through that sometimes
kind of directionless Pau Gasol era in the early
2000s to finally, finally establishing itself
as a consistent contender. And what a journey
it's been. You're right. Memphis is, I think,
one of the most remarkable franchise turnarounds
in modern sports. They went from being, you know,
a perennial stellar dweller to a respected, if
still mid -market power. And when we look at
the last, what, decade and a half of that success,
there are two really distinct, almost titanic
periods that stand out. The rugged, defensive
-minded grid and grind era, and of course, the
explosive, high -seating, John Morant era. Exactly.
And that split brings us to our core disagreement
today. We're asking which of these two periods,
the grit and grind core that ran from, let's
say, 2010 to 2019, or the current John Morant
driven era that started with that 2019 front
office restructuring, which one established the
most significant, the most enduring foundation
for the Memphis Grizzlies franchise? And for
me, that foundation has to be judged by peak
achievement and organizational structure. It
just has to. So therefore, the John Morant era
is the true operational peak. I mean, it achieved
the highest success metrics, the highest seating.
And that's the undeniable foundation for sustainable,
modern NBA relevance. See, I think that focuses
too heavily on the roof rather than the footing.
My position is that the grit and grind era provided
the essential identity, the culture, and the
fundamental framework for success that even this
current very talented team still relies on. It
established what it means to be the Memphis Grizzlies
in a way that nothing before or since has really
touched. Okay, so let's delve into what that
grit and grind definition really encompasses
then. I absolutely grant that the core of Mike
Conley, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Tony Allen
provided a deep emotional connection to the city.
I mean, it was cultural lightning in a bottle,
for sure. Oh, it was far more than emotion. It
was defined by a tangible, a strategic uniqueness
that delivered the franchise's most significant
firsts. We often forget how unusual their style
was in that era. A commitment to disruptive defense
through high pressure on the ball, which is why
they led the league in steals in 2010 -11. And
they married that defense with this stubborn,
efficient, inside -out offense, you know, routinely
leading the league in points in the paint. They
were kind of the anti -modern NBA. And it worked.
They were definitely contrarian. And that contrarian
spirit is what broke the franchise curse. In
2011, as an eight seed, They achieved their first
ever playoff series victory, stunning the top
seeded San Antonio Spurs. That wasn't just a
win. It was one of the most historically significant
upsets in NBA history. It was only the second
time an 8C had beaten a one seed in a best of
seven series. I mean, that is the kind of breakthrough
that defines a franchise for decades, regardless
of what comes later. That 2011 series set the
tone, certainly. But while that core, which,
you know, gave us the first Western Conference
Finals appearance in 2013, and whose two biggest
names, Zeebo and Marc Gasol, had their numbers
retired, it was beloved, but it hit a very definite
ceiling. A ceiling they constructed themselves,
I might add. I would argue the current era constructs
a higher ceiling. You focus on the roots, but
I'm focusing on the structural height. The Jomoran
era, guided by that whole restructuring under
Zachary Kleinman in 2019, delivered the highest
level of institutional success and, frankly,
validation. And what evidence do you have that
climb and structure is a better foundation in
the grit and grind culture? Quantifiable organizational
dominance. The grit and grind teams, for all
their tenacity, were frequently just battling
to make the playoffs. They rarely secured home
court advantage. They peaked at the fifth seed
twice. By contrast, the Morant era in 2021 -22
clinched the franchise's first ever division
title and secured the West's highest ever regular
season standing, the second seed. on the strength
of a franchise best 56 wins. And then they immediately
repeated as division champs the next year. That
kind of operational efficiency shown over multiple
seasons provides a much stronger foundation for
the future. I see that level of regular season
mastery, and I grant you the second seed is a
major achievement, especially in the West. But
that 56 win mark itself is actually shared with
the 2012 -13 grit and grind team. So your argument
really rests on seeding. while mine rests on
substantive historical achievement and cultural
adoption. Seeding is substantive. It dictates
your entire path through the playoffs. And what's
more, the current structure yields definitive,
top -tier individual success that validates the
whole system. John Morant wins Rookie of the
Year. Jaron Jackson Jr. was named Defensive Player
of the Year. These are concrete proofs of concept
for a modern, high -functioning front office.
The foundation Kleinman -Lade prioritizes high
-value talent acquisition and development, which
is just superior to the G &G Foundation, which
relied pretty heavily on late -career free agents,
and you know, the lottery miracle of that Marc
Gasol trade. That comparison actually brings
up a vital point I want to address right away.
The difference between a cultural foundation
and just a sheer statistical peak. You're measuring
the success of the house by the altitude of its
tallest chimney. I'm measuring it by the depth
of the basement. And I believe your basement
was structurally sound, but ultimately outdated.
Perhaps. But it was enduring. The GNG Corps proved
that a mid -market team could build a winning
culture that resonated deeply enough to last
for almost a decade, even when they were rejecting
the league's trend toward pace and space. You
can't just dismiss the power of that 2011 upset
and the WCF run in 2013. Those events did more
than win games. They defined Memphis basketball
nationwide. Yes, but did they truly build the
foundation? They provided the patience and the
buy -in from the community that was needed for
the franchise to survive what came next. I mean,
think about the cultural artifacts. The growl
towels, which became a whole franchise tradition
during those seven straight playoff runs. Or
the spontaneous electric adoption of Whoop That
Trick as a signature chant during the 2013 Clipper
Series. That kind of enduring connection. where
the team's identity is just inseparable from
the city's personality. That is the most stable
foundation a franchise can possibly have. It
provides deep, long -term fan capital. Fan capital
is wonderful, but it is fickle when the team
doesn't perform. We saw that in the 2023 -24
season. But I want to challenge this premise
that culture is the primary foundation. If the
culture was so strong and enduring, why was the
pivot in 2019, dismantling that beloved core,
so incredibly painful for the fan base? Didn't
the new regime demonstrate a stronger foundational
strategy by prioritizing objective metrics over
that deep yet ultimately limiting emotional attachment?
You've hit on the crux of the debate. Yes, the
pivot was painful. But the Klyman only had the
political capital to dismantle a revered, identity
-defining core because the G &G teams had already
earned the city's trust. They established the
belief that Memphis was a winning basketball
town. So Klyman's success is built upon the goodwill
fostered by Conley, Zeebo, and Gasol. That cultural
foundation provided the patience for the rebuild
to even work. I see why you frame it that way
as a necessary inheritance, but I would argue
the act of dismantling the core was the true
foundational moment for the Morant era. It required
a level of strategic foresight and ruthlessness
that the previous management often lacked, especially
when it came to adapting to the modern game.
Okay, let's pivot to the assembly process itself
then. If we're talking foundation, we have to
talk about how the front office actually built
these teams. I maintain that the G &G Corps was
assembled through shrewd moves that provided
long -term structural value, not just high lottery
luck. Shrewd moves like trading Pau Gasol to
the Lakers for what everyone at the time ridiculed
as a minimal return? Exactly. That trade in 2008,
while painful at first, was foundational because
we acquired the rights to his younger brother,
Marc Gasol. acquiring a future defensive player
of the year and franchise cornerstone for what
was basically a salary dump and draft filler,
that shows brilliant long -term talent evaluation.
You couple that with the savvy free agent signing
of Zach Randolph in 2009, a player others had
given up on, and you have a core built on organizational
intelligence, finding value where others didn't,
not just relying on draft order. That's a compelling
narrative, but I'm sorry, I just don't buy that
it's superior to the current system. The foundation
established by the Morant -era management was
crucial for sustainable future success. They
recognized the flaws of the GNG roster, a lack
of three -point shooting, aging players, a slow
pace, and they acted decisively. So you prioritize
adaptability over stability? Precisely. The decision
to trade Marc Gasol and Mike Conley Jr. in 2019
was a masterstroke of organizational timing.
It led directly to getting the second overall
pick for John Morant and trading into the draft
for Brandon Clark and later Desmond Bain. The
foundational success of this era is that the
Kleiman -led front office implemented a modern,
analytical architecture required to achieve elite,
regular season metrics. They were successful
because they realized the grit -and -grind foundation
was rigid, and fundamentally incompatible with
championship -level basketball in the 2020s.
I acknowledge the success of those picks, particularly
Morant and Bain, but the definition of a foundation
has to include stability. So let's look at the
postseason results. Both eras, you argue, suffered
similar fates. They did. Neither foundation led
to the ultimate goal. The G &G era was swept
in the 2013 Western Conference Finals, and they
had multiple early sweeps before that. The Morant
era, despite that second seed, has also seen
discouraging results, like the first round loss
to the seven -seed Lakers in 2023 and that quick,
humbling sweep by the Thunder in 2025. If the
foundation was truly set, why haven't they progressed
further? The Morant team should be outperforming
grit and grind based on its higher regular season
dominance. That's an interesting point, though
I would frame it differently. The foundation
provided by grit and grind was rooted in longevity
and credibility. Seven consecutive playoff runs.
That is a foundational baseline of sustained
relevance that gave Memphis a permanent identity
as a tough, respected opponent. This is where
foundation translates into team reputation. Those
runs established intense, memorable rivalries
with the Clippers and the Thunder, rivalries
that defined a generation of Western Conference
basketball. That reputation persists. But credibility
doesn't survive volatility. The Morant area achieved
a higher, sharper peak with 56 wins, but it showed
immediate alarming fragility. The very next season,
2023 -24, was injury -riddled and resulted in
a sharp drop to a 27 -55 record, setting a record
for the most players used. That level of collapse
suggests that the foundation is structurally
unsound, relying too heavily on the health of
one or two top -tier talents. The G &G era, defined
by a system and collective defense, proved far
more robust in handling those inevitable roster
changes and injuries. And that, for me, is the
clearest distinction. The G &G system survived
injuries and maintained playoff relevance for
nearly a decade. It built the identity that makes
the franchise valuable and relevant today. You're
measuring foundation by peak statistical output.
I measure it by sustained cultural and competitive
relevance through adversity. But the organizational
peak has been achieved under the current structure.
A foundation that delivers two division titles
and a second seed is, mathematically, superior
to one that never cracked the top four. The G
&G Foundation was the concrete mix. The Morant
era is the blueprint that proved the architecture
could actually support a skyscraper. So we've
established that this debate really hinges on
defining what a franchise foundation truly is.
Is it the indelible spirit and community identity
that guarantees relevance? Or is it the strategic
organizational architecture that yields the highest
measurable competitive success? My position remains
that the John Morant era represents the superior
operational foundation. Achieving a record -setting
56 -win season, getting two division titles,
and claiming the highest seating in franchise
history, those are objective metrics that prove
a superior, modernized structure was built in
2019. It validated the team's ability to compete
at the absolute highest level. And I continue
to champion the grit and grind era for creating
that indelible cultural spirit, the roots, the
toughness, the rivalries, and the fan engagement.
They achieved the franchise's first playoff series
victory and first conference finals appearance,
defining the very essence of modern Memphis basketball.
Those cultural roots provided the necessary community
foundation for any future peak to be meaningful
and stable. Ultimately, the history of the Grizzlies
is a fascinating case study. The continuous evolution
from the trade of Pau Gasol, which yielded the
core of that defensive grit and grind identity,
into the high seed analytical Morant era, it
demonstrates a remarkable upward trajectory.
It leaves the listener with a compelling choice
to weigh. What legacy provides the lasting foundation
for an organization? Is it the decade of consistent
identity -defining culture? or the organizational
validation you get through peak, measurable regular
season success? A complex question that I think
speaks to the heart of what builds a lasting
NBA franchise.