Memphis Grizzlies Playbook: Brooks heckled at airport, plus next move for Yves Pons

Memphis Grizzlies star Dillon Brooks heckled at airport in viral video

Welcome to the very first edition of the Memphis Grizzlies Playbook, a weekly column penned by our Site Expert, Jacob Ellerbee, which will feature quick tidbits about the latest happenings in Grizz-world.

We’ll be highlighting newsworthy items you might have missed in the past week, former player news, player conversations, posts and interactions that have gone viral, interesting facts, occasional trivia and more.

This space will likely evolve over the coming weeks and months, so feel free to chime in and tells what sort of content you want to see in this space each week on Twitter at @jellerbee or at @BealeStBearsFS.

Yves Pons heading to France

Happy trails to Yves Pons, the 2021 undrafted free agent project the Grizzlies took a swing on last season. The hyper-athletic reserve player averaged 1.1 ppg and 1.0 rpg in 12 game appearances.

Pons competed for the Brooklyn Nets during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League but was not able to find a permeant NBA home after play ended.

According to EuroHoops.net, Pons has signed a contract to play for ASVEL Villeurbanne in France until 2024. That’s a club owned by former NBA great Tony Parker, who will likely be able to help keep a line of communication open between Pons and the NBA should he be ready for opportunity in the future.

Future of FedEx Forum

While the Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to a lease to compete inside the FedEx Forum through the 2028-29 season, local leadership is already thinking about what comes next.

Samuel Hardiman, who reports on Memphis city government and politics for the Memphis Commercial Appeal, wrote this week about a discussion that took place at a recent city council meeting.

The crux of the discussion: should the city and county, which own the FedEx Forum, start budgeting for renovations to the nearly quarter century-old building or prepare for a whole new building altogether?

It’s a complicated dance that requires investment from the ownership of the Grizzlies, the city of Memphis, Shelby County and the state of Tennessee.

The governmental bodies have the right to do as much or as little as they want with the building, but the ownership also has the right to pick up the team and move them to Seattle or Las Vegas.

2029 may seem like a long ways away, but the glacial pace at which government moves, things will have to be put into motion soon and there are two very different paths to take in renovating vs rebuilding— tens of millions vs hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars will be at stake.

Dillon Brooks heckled at airport

For someone that doesn’t really have an active presence on social media, Dillon Brooks went viral for an encounter he had with a Grizzlies fan at the airport.

“Sharing is caring mane,” the fan told Brooks, who was in line at the airport Starbucks. To which Brooks looked confused and unsure how to respond.

“You gotta pass that mother****** thing,” the man said laughing. Dillon Brooks smiled and turned away to hide his own laughter.

It seemed like a good natured ribbing that Brooks took with great aplomb. Kudos to Brooks for being a good sport about it, despite the man baiting the Memphis Grizzlies star into an absurd reaction by sticking a camera in his face.

Brooks’ shot selection and decision making on offense has been a point of contention among some Grizzlies fans, especially after his poor performance during the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

Grizzlies fans can sit in Mayor’s Suite

If you live in the Memphis area and you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, you could have a chance to earn a stay in Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s suite at the FedEx Forum to watch a future Grizzlies game, according to WATN.

Fans can create teams to pick up trash, scoring points for each bag of trash deposited. The team with the most points accumulated between September 1, 2022 and October 31, 2022 will win the top prize.

Teams finishing in the top three will score tickets to a Grizzlies game in Mayor Strickland’s suite.