Memphis Grizzlies: A symbol of racial and civic unity (revisited)

Basketball is a sport that unites people of all backgrounds. In Memphis, nothing could ever be truer.

In honor of the time in which we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, I felt that this was a good article to come back to about how basketball, especially through the Memphis Grizzlies, has been a unifier in Memphis.

Have you ever seen the movie Glory Road? If you haven’t, I highly recommend it for any basketball fan — or fan of movies in general. It’s about the 1966 Texas Western Miners who were the first team with an all-black starting lineup to win an NCAA national championship. The film explores racism, discrimination and prejudice – very timely themes for the world we live in today. It’s also the movie that made me fall in love with the game of basketball.

To me, there’s hardly a better sound in the world than a swish as a basketball goes through a net. There’s just something beautiful about a crossover that leaves open mouths throughout an entire gym. When played right, basketball is just a beautiful game.

I grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird. However, like many kids from Memphis, my love of basketball can be traced back to the city itself.

Memphis: A City of Division

The city of Memphis has a long history defined by racial tension and division. There’s no point in sugarcoating our history; it is what it is. Martin Luther King Jr., one of my heroes, is one of the greatest champions of the Civil Rights Movement, and he horrifically met his end in Memphis. Though this city has seen much good, the evil still lurks in our history.

However, even in the darkest of times, there has always been one thing that has helped hold the city together: basketball.

The 1973 Memphis Tigers basketball team, who made it to the national championship, rallied the city together in a time of great racial tension. One prominent Memphian declared that the team “unified the city like it’s never been unified before. Black and white, rich and poor, old and young are all caught up in their success. Memphis is a better city now, thanks to the Memphis State basketball team.” May leaders in the city believed the team helped a city that was in so much pain.

Let me be clear: I’m not saying that any sport can solve the problems of our world. Racism, hatred and ignorance unfortunately always going to be present in our fallen world. However, sports like basketball can make us forget for at least a little while about what separates and divides us. Things like race, religion, social status and other differences break down when people find something for which to rally.

Memphis Basketball: The Great Unifier

We are now in the year 2017. Many things are the same, and many things are different. Memphis State is now simply called the University of Memphis. With the move from Vancouver in 2000, the city of Memphis now has an NBA team of its own in the Memphis Grizzlies.

Like the 1973 Memphis Tigers before them, the Memphis Grizzlies of today are a symbol of unity in the city of Memphis. When you go to a Grizzlies game, you see nearly everyone there. You see people of every race, religion and socioeconomic status at the games. It’s beautiful, and it’s how the world is supposed to work.

As I grew up watching both the Memphis Tigers and Memphis Grizzlies, I saw how basketball continued to unite the community. When the Tigers made their deep Tournament runs in the late 2000s, no one in the city was not a Tigers fan. The same thing has occurred during the Grizzlies’ run over the last seven years.

Seeing the devastation in Houston right now reminds me of the affliction Memphis faced during the storms and flooding of 2011 (Thoughts and prayers to the people of Houston). There was much damage and evacuations, and it was generally a very difficult time for the city. However, the Grizzlies’ first playoff run gave the city of Memphis hope when people desperately needed it. People need heroes in times of adversity, and the Grizzlies provided them.

History has obviously shown that basketball is more than just a game in Memphis.

More Than a Fan

So why am I fan of the Memphis Grizzlies?

It’s not simply because it’s the NBA team that resides in my home city. That’s far too simple of an answer, and it would be a huge disservice to the real reason.

I’m a fan of the Memphis Grizzlies, because basketball is more than a game here. In Memphis, basketball symbolizes something so much greater. It represents how far we have come from a dark period in our history, and how much we have achieved together. In Memphis, basketball gives us a place where people focus on what unites us, rather than what divides us. It gives us something to rally around when tough times arrive.

Basketball has given, and will continue to give, the people of Memphis hope that we can become more unified. Rather than focusing on how terrible the world can be, we can embrace how far we have come. And perhaps with time, Memphis could find itself on a glory road that even an NBA Finals can never bring.

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