Gasol, Griz win for fans
With 1:06 left, Marc Gasol checked out of a game at FedExForum for the final time this season. The fans rose in warm applause. Gasol applauded right back.
“I understand how tough this season has been for everyone,” Gasol said. “For them to show us support through bad and worse, and how bad it really got, it means a lot.”
So an unhappy home season had a happy ending.
A season of unrelenting misery relented for a change.
The Grizzlies finished off their home season by smashing the Detroit Pistons, 130-117. Streamers fell. Music played.
Then the players gave some lucky fans the shirts off their backs. Tank tops, of course. Because that’s the kind of year it has been.
But it wasn’t supposed to be this kind of year at the outset. That’s im-
portant to remember amidst all the endless arguing about the Grizzlies tank.
The Grizzlies didn’t set out to tank anything. They set out to win. They spent money on free agents during the summer. They handed out growl towels that said “Grit Grind Forever” at the first game.
"I think we all have just a hidden confidence," said Mike Conley, before the opener. "We're just being reserved at the moment because we're kind of feeling like, 'Man, we saw what we could do the last preseason game.' We're capable of doing some good things. I think everybody, when we got in the locker room over the last few games was like, 'You know, we're going to be really good.’"
They weren’t. Really good. Instead, they were really injured, and then really bad, and then really hard to watch.
Conley missed all but 12 games. Chandler Parsons was not miraculously cured. Ben McLemore turned out to be another atrocious signing. Head coach David Fizdale got canned.
And suddenly a fan base that had reveled in its Memphis vs. Errrbody spirit descended into a Memphis vs. Memphis brawl.
There were those who applauded every loss because it improved the odds that the team would get an impact player in the draft. There were those who were furious at the very notion that losing could be good.
It became the Great Tanking Debate of 2017-2018. The Great Schism for Memphis fans.
But here’s the thing. At least, until the end of the season, the Grizzlies weren’t actually losing games because they were tanking. They were losing games because they were bad. And the good news? Barring an unexpected turn of events, the Grizzlies will enter the draft lottery with the second-worst record in the league, the second-most ping pong balls in the draft lottery, and a 19.9 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick.
So Sunday was that rare day when everyone could happily root for the Grizzlies to win the game.
And when the Grizzlies players went out of their way to show their fans how much their season-long support has meant.
These end of the season thank-you fests have the potential to feel forced and campy. But this particular one did not.
“How we feel about them and how much we appreciate them is hard to put a value on,” said interim head coach J. B. Bickerstaff. “There is a connection between the organization and the city like no other place I’ve been.”
Gasol, of course, understands that connection most keenly. Which is why this game meant more to him. He has had to sit out whole games and key quarters in the interest of “rest” toward the end of the season. But there was no way he was resting during the fourth quarter of this one.
It was fun, just watching him have fun. Watching him direct this hodgepodge, thrown-together team. MarShon Brooks had another 25 points in 25 minutes. The original Brooks — Dillon — added 22 points. Kobi Simmons had a career-high 20 points, a careerhigh seven assists, a career-high four 3-pointers and a career-high seven field goals. Gasol nearly wound up with his fifth career triple-double, finishing with 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Then he checked out of the game to that warm ovation. And he did a full 360 turn, while clapping, so he could applaud each and every fan who showed up.
It wasn’t the season anyone wanted. It wasn't what the Grizzlies hope next season will be.
But it was nice to go out with a happy reminder.
“That’s the good thing about winning,” Gasol said. “It just feels good.”