Fountain of Youth
Bonzi Wells landed with the Memphis Grizzlies following a midseason trade involving the Portland Trail Blazers. He would go on to play in 59 games to round out the season with Memphis, clinching a playoff berth for the fourth time in his NBA career and the first time in Grizzlies franchise history. It was a historic time for the city full of history.
Regarding the trade to Memphis, Wells recalls the eventful day by saying “I got traded from Portland and I didn’t know what to expect. No disrespect to Memphis, but they were one of the bottom teams in the league at the time. When I got there, I just remember looking around the locker room, like ‘we got some talent in here.'”
Talent, he was right. The majority of his Grizzlies teammates were just getting started in the NBA ahead of some prolific careers. Even with a young roster, a little bit of veteran leadership — provided by Wells — was the key to success. It was enough to boost them into the postseason.
Wells claims “we were going to build around Pau Gasol, who was an up-and-coming player on the peak of being an All-Star. We had Lorenzen Wright — rest in peace, Lorenzen. Jake . J-Will. Mike Miller. Shane Battier. Posey. Myself. Earl Watson. Stromile Swift. When I looked at the crew, I said ‘we got a team, we’re just young. We need some experience.'”
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That was the downfall for the 2003-04 Grizzlies squad against the San Antonio Spurs dynsasty in the first-round of the NBA Playoffs. Inexperience met experience. This aspect was on full display as San Antonio swept Memphis, squashing the buzz in the city for the time being. Regardless, it was a positive season to say the least. Plus, the team knew what to work on in order to become great.
“I just remember my goal and my mindset was to instill some toughness in our guys and a belief that we could win against anybody,” says Wells. “We had the great Hubie Brown, who was just leading us, and he had a formula on how we could win games. He broke the whole 82-game season down, showing us ‘if you take just two or three games at a time, win these games, small victories at a time, you’ll get 50 wins.’ And we ended up getting 50 wins that year. It was a franchise record at the time.”
Despite being on the wrong end of a playoff series sweep, momentum was building in Memphis, Tennessee. A few heads were turning in their direction after the 50-win season.