The Memphis Grizzlies, despite playing poorly for much of the first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, found a way to get the job done to advance to the Western Conference Semi-Finals to face the Golden State Warriors.
The Grizzlies now face a monumental task in Round 2: dethrone a head coach and a veteran core group that’s beyond playoff tested— they’re championship tested.
Yes, the Golden State Warriors have the great distinction of playing for and winning multiple championships in the last half-decade or so.
No. 1: Will age and inexperience catch up to the Memphis Grizzlies vs Golden State Warriors?
The Warriors have been winning championships— note the “s” on the end of that— since the 2015-16 season, long before much of the current Grizzlies roster even entered the NBA.
Almost all of the current roster for the Memphis Grizzlies were teens and tweens when Golden State started their spectacular reign as NBA champions.
Ja Morant was 15 years old when Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr won their first title together in 2016. Same for Jaren Jackson Jr.
Ziaire Williams, the youngest player on the Grizzlies, was just 13 years old when Golden State informed the basketball world of their dominating dynasty.
While the Warriors were winning their first chip together, most of the league’s second-youngest team were in middle school and junior high school— probably watching in awe of these very Warriors like the rest of the NBA was doing in the summer of 2015.
Steven Adams and Kyle Anderson are the only players on the team’s roster that were in the NBA the first time the Warriors won a championship.
The Grizzlies have advanced past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2015, so many of these players are in uncharted territory.
The Memphis Grizzlies are going to have to put aside any nerves and doubt and stay focused on the mission of winning one possession at a time.