3 Reasons the Memphis Grizzlies Went Underappreciated in the 2000s
Just One Series
What could have been for the Memphis Grizzlies? It seems as if this question has been asked a handful of times within the fan base. What if Hubie Brown would have been able to remain healthy for the 2004-05 season, thus coaching another complete season? His game plan was working prior to his exit. Memphis had the momentum, but Brown’s exit derailed the train.
Though reaching the postseason was one of the Grizzlies’ goals which had reached completion, the group featuring Bonzi Wells was capable of accomplishing so much more. All the team needed was to win one playoff series to get over the hump. It would have taken Memphis to the next level. If that were to happen, who knows how great that Grizzlies group could have become?
“It was tough,” says Wells regarding the Grizzlies’ first-round matchup of the dominant San Antonio Spurs in 2004. From there, the road would continue to be difficult. In 2005, Memphis was faced with the surging Phoenix Suns. The result was the same. Memphis was on the wrong end of a playoff series sweep. Those consecutive sweeps were not a good look for the Grizzlies organization.
“Winning heals everything. When you win, people don’t have much to say. But when you lose, people have everything to say,” explains Wells. “It’s just part of it. That’s what comes with it. I dealt with it when I was in Portland. You can go as far as the Western Conference Finals, or even the Finals, but if you don’t win it, you’re still considered somewhat of a failure.”
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One playoff series — even a first-round series at that — can entirely change the landscape of an NBA franchise. This is 100% evident via the Memphis Grizzlies organization over the course of their existence. However, the fan base admires characteristics more than hardware. That is why Bonzi Wells remains a fan favorite in Memphis, Tennessee to this day. If a player gives it a full effort and lays it all on the line, Grizzlies fans will always support them.
“I loved the grit that I instilled in the Grizzlies. I told them, ‘if we don’t win the game, we don’t win the fight. That was always my mindset. We got to be ready to fight. We had to be willing to fight. We even had Pau Gasol being tough a little bit, and he’s the nicest guy you’re ever going to meet,” says Wells laughingly.
It is safe to say the Grizzlies went underappreciated until the Core Four was assembled. Even then, Memphis had to dig deep to overcome the odds — which were against them — in order to become relevant as a small-market club.
Nobody said wins have to be pretty. After all, it took a lot of grit, grind, and a grimy display of basketball at times to achieve four 50-win seasons in the Grizzlies’ 24-year lifetime. It will take more “GNG” to accomplish the fifth.
While Bonzi Wells helped deliver lasting memories for the city of Memphis, one particular moment in his Grizzlies career will forever stand out to him.
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“I remember when we opened the FedEx Forum. I still remember that I was starting at the time and the first play was for Pau Gasol to score the first bucket for the Memphis Grizzlies in the new arena. And I broke the play! And I scored the first bucket. I got fouled and hit a free-throw, so I scored the first point in FedEx Forum history, so that’s exciting, too.”