Category: Basketball

The 2021-22 NBA regular season has officially come to an end, as 14 teams begin their offseason while the other 16 advance to the playoffs. The top eight teams from each respective conference will now get a fresh start as dreams of making it to the NBA Finals begin. At this point, regular season records and statistics no longer matter as a blank slate is given to each franchise in the postseason.

In the Western Conference, one of the most anticipated matchups is between the Dallas Mavericks (No. 4) and Utah Jazz (No. 5) which is a series that will begin on Saturday night. The Mavericks finished the regular season with a record of 52-30, which gave them the slight edge on the Jazz (49-33) for home court advantage. As such, Dallas will host the first two games of the series and also Game 7 if it’s needed. This could become a huge advantage to get the series off on the right foot and potentially close it out at home.

Any advantage will be key for the Mavs, as their superstar in Luka Doncic is expected to miss Game 1 and potentially Game 2 with a calf strain.

The Mavericks had a fairly slow start to the season, but ultimately got better as it went on. Gradual growth and improvement is a good sign for Dallas, as the team could be peaking at the right time. Early in the season, Jalen Brunson began to emerge as a legitimate piece of the roster. He’ll be a primary scorer for the Mavs during the postseason. Alongside him in the backcourt will be Spencer Dinwiddie, who was the cornerstone piece of the Kristaps Porzingis trade with the Washington Wizards at the deadline.

While defense was something that’s held the Mavericks back during the past few seasons, it’s been a strength in the 2021-22 campaign. They finished the regular season as the seventh-best team on that end of the floor with a defensive rating of 101.9. Additionally, Dallas was well-disciplined and took great care of the ball. The Mavs’ 1025 turnovers on the season were the third-fewest of any team.

Lacking a dominant center could detrimental for the Mavs in this series, as they’ll go up against a a deep frontcourt team. Utah was a top-three rebounding team this season, while the Mavericks finished 24th in the league. On the flip side, if Dallas is able to have success using their unique floor-spacing bigs and small ball lineups, Utah could have to play out of character to match up.

Dallas hasn’t won a playoff series since its championship run back in 2011. As such, the Mavs are on one of the longest active droughts in the NBA when it comes to winning a postseason series. Could this be the first time in over a decade that they advance past the first round?

See more

Donovan Mitchell on preparing for Mavs without knowing the status of Luka:

“They still got guys who can fill his role, maybe not to a full extent but can do that. You got Jalen Brunson, Dinwiddie… they still got guys who can hoop and go get it. They’re still a dangerous team.” pic.twitter.com/KkL2Rbjavz

— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) April 13, 2022

If the Mavericks are going to have success without Doncic, it will likely come down to Dinwiddie and Brunson. Both have been extremely effective this season whether their superstar teammate is on the floor or not. If they struggle while Doncic is out, the Jazz could jump out to an early series lead before heading back to Utah.

Utah had a strong start to the season, but has really struggled of late. In fact, the Jazz went just 7-8 over their final 15 games of the season. While Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell have been great once again, the production from the role players around them has been fairly inconsistent. There’s no question Utah has the pieces to make a championship push, but will they all come together and play at the top of their games when it matters most? Scoring shouldn’t be a problem, as Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley are able to score 20 points each on any given night.

During the regular season, the Jazz took second-most shots from deep (40.3 per game) and knocked down 36.0% of them. They also did a great job at getting to the rim and drawing fouls, finishing fourth in the league in free throw attempts this season with 23.4 per game. These are just some of the things that led Utah to the top offensive rating (11.2) in the NBA this season. What’s most interesting about the Jazz offense is that it’s heavily in isolation, as they were bottom five in both assists per game and assist percentage.

However, the playoffs are all about superstars and who can get a bucket when it’s needed, so perhaps that style of play will work in Utah’s favor. The Jazz also don’t take a ton of shots, playing with a slower pace and attempting the sixth-fewest shots in the league this season. This isn’t dissimilar from the Mavericks, who were in the bottom five in terms of field goal attempts in the regular season.

One of the best defenders in the entire NBA, Gobert will be a major factor on that end of the floor against the Mavs. Since the All-Star break, he’s limited opponents to 39.1% when he’s the closest defender.

See more

Dorian Finney-Smith with a smile while talking about Rudy Gobert guarding him in past Mavs-Jazz games:

“If they do, then I know I’m probably going to get a bunch of threes. I hope he guard me so I can get some shots.” pic.twitter.com/GZVHl1Q6DH

— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) April 13, 2022

The duo of Mitchell and Gobert has certainly had its flaws in the past. If the Jazz aren’t able to get out of the first round this season, could it be time for a major roster shakeup? It seems this series could directly impact what the Utah roster looks like moving forward.

In four games during the 2021-22 campaign, the Jazz and Mavericks have split the regular season series. Utah won the first two matchups of the season, while Dallas won the two more recently. That’s indicative of the seasons these two teams have had, as the Jazz looked better to start but the Mavs have been better down the stretch.

Outside of the primary stars in this series, there are several players for both teams that could really impact the outcomes. For Utah, Conley and Rudy Gay are veterans that have the experience to shine in the big moments. However, if they struggle the Jazz could have a rough series. For Dallas, Davis Bertans and Reggie Bullock will be important offensively, as they have the firepower to fill it up from beyond the arc. If they aren’t converting from deep and producing points, the Mavericks’ offense could stall.

As the NBA regular season was wrapping up last week, the G League playoffs were already underway. And quietly, away from the spotlight, Sixers rookie Jaden Springer was helping to lead the Delaware Blue Coats to the Finals.

Let’s back up. Philly took Springer, a 6-4 combo guard out of Tennessee, with the 28^th overall pick in the 2021 Draft last summer. His father, Gary Springer Sr, a former McDonald’s All-American, was coincidentally also drafted by the Sixers back in 1984. 

“I knew what he was since he was nine years old,” Springer Sr recently told SLAM about Jaden. “I’ve been around the game. I’ve been around the baddest guys who have ever played. From Jordan on down, I’ve been around them. I could see it, but I knew what it took to bring all that out, too. Because there are a lot of kids like that, but a lot of them don’t go all the way through to it. But he followed the plan, the blueprint, and he made himself who he is. He did it. Jaden did it. He made himself who he is by the hard work and effort.”

SLAM has been covering Springer since he was a blossoming star at powerhouse IMG Academy in Florida. As a HS senior in 2019-20, he was a top-20 recruit and McDonald’s All-American (just like his father). In his one season with the Volunteers, the versatile wing averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 rebounds, shooting 47 percent from the field and 44 percent from three. He showed an ability to score at all three levels and established himself as an elite on-ball defender, using his strength, physicality and quick hands to be disruptive (he recorded two or more steals in nine games). 

Of course, Springer joined a talented and deep NBA squad with championship aspirations. It became clear early on that he was not going to crack Doc Rivers’ rotation. Which is fine. Springer won’t turn 20 until September. His opportunity will come. This season, thus, was all about development. It was about gradually adjusting to the pro level. It was about building confidence and knowledge. It was about reps. A lot of reps. Reps in training camp. Reps in preseason. Reps in practice. Reps in the G League. 

“For anybody coming into the League, there’s definitely going to be a learning curve,” Springer told reporters during his introductory press conference back in July. “There’s going to be a lot of learning [this season] and just trying to soak up all the information I can” 

Springer spent most of his rookie campaign in Delaware, where any Philly fans paying attention would’ve seen flashes of his potential. The G League schedule is divided into two parts: a 14-game tournament called the Showcase Cup, which culminates with a marquee event in Las Vegas, and a standard regular season. The Blue Coats thrived in both, winning the Cup championship at the Mandalay Bay and continuing to roll from there. 

Along with Myles Powell, Paul Reed, Braxton Key, Charles Bassey and other young players, Springer was a huge piece of that success. He had several big performances throughout the year: 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists against the Maine Celtics (W); 22 points, 6 assists and 5 steals against the Grand Rapids Gold (W); 24 points and 7 rebounds in another matchup with the Gold (W); 26 points and 6 rebounds against the Swarm (W); 26 points, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals against the Raptors 905 (W). A month ago, he went off for 30 points (on 11/19 shooting), 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals (!) to lead his squad to a 130-118 win over the Cleveland Charge.

The G League playoffs—a March Madness-style single-elimination bracket until the Finals, which is best-of-three—kicked off on April 5. Delaware hosted the Long Island Nets in the Conference Quarterfinals, and Springer was unstoppable again. He finished with 26 points (on 8/11 shooting), 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in a 133-116 victory. Two days later, facing the Motor City Cruise in the second round, Springer put up 30 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.  

He was a late scratch from the Conference Finals due to injury, but the Blue Coats took care of business to earn a matchup with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the Finals. Unfortunately, they were without Springer for most of that series, too, and the Vipers completed the sweep on Thursday night to claim the championship.

Springer’s rookie season likely ends there, and while he didn’t get a chance in the NBA, he made the most of his situation. He is following the plan and sticking to the blueprint, as he has since childhood. That approach got him here. And it will continue to take him further.  

It’s the night before the Dallas Mavericks play the Brooklyn Nets, and Jalen Brunson is sitting in a dimly lit room in an office building in Manhattan. It’s mid-March, and the 6-1 guard is having the best season of his career, averaging career highs in every major statistical category. Yet, when asked about the new level he reached this season, he makes it clear that he doesn’t think about any of that. He’s too busy thinking about what’s ahead, already too focused on the next goal. 

“I don’t think about [how] I’m averaging career-highs. I know people always say it, like, How’s it feel? I’m just trying to be me, I’m not trying to blow anything out of proportion. Obviously, what I’m doing is good stuff, but the best thing about it is I know I could be doing better. That’s the part that keeps me hungry.” 

What exactly does better look like for the Mavericks’ second-leading scorer?

“I’ll know when I get there,” he says confidently. 

Until then, it’s all about staying prepared. There’s nothing flashy about the grind, nor is there about Jalen. At his SLAM photo shoot, he prefers to keep it simple and rock a few Nike sweatsuits. In between takes, he chops it up about how he’s a big movie guy and dishes a few takes on The Batman and Euphoria. When another question comes up about where his confidence comes from, there’s no ego or anything extra to his answer. “My work ethic,” he says. Simple as that.

His father Rick pushed and demanded it out of him. Jalen watched his father constantly work during his own 12-year long pro career, night in and night out. He trained relentlessly, too—in the summer, Jalen says Rick would run in the blazing heat wearing a sweat jacket, and at 7 years old, he’d be there, riding his bike alongside him. “I didn’t really understand it, I thought it was just what he did,” he says. “Seeing what people do now in their free time, versus what my dad did, I’m like, Damn. He did all that and he was in the League for nine years, overseas, CBA and never had a guaranteed contract.” 

“I’m fortunate to be guaranteed four years, and I’m like, Wow. If I could work half as hard…I have to do something to get better, every day.” 

He’s become methodical and committed to his routine, which has pretty much stayed the same over the years, whether he’s starting every game or playing less minutes: shooting the night before games, getting in his conditioning, eating at certain times of the day, taking a nap (if time permits) and entirely dialing in on the task ahead. 

Brunson has always been that way, routine-oriented. He grew up watching how Rick would get ready for games, and at 2 years old, would mimic what he saw. According to his mother Sandra there’d be a “full-court” set up in his grandparent’s kitchen and living room with New York Knicks stickers taped onto their hardwood floors [Rick played for the Knicks for a couple of years at that time—Ed.]. A young Jalen would pack all his gear—sneakers, shorts and a jersey—into a duffel bag, put on a blazer or vest and say, Mom, I’m going to my game. 

He would then walk through the house, put on his sneakers and do exactly what he does now as a four-year guard in the League—go to work with the ball in his hands. He’d copy the moves he saw the players around him do, including Rick’s then-New York Knicks teammate Allen Houston. 

“I just like knowing what I’m getting myself into. I’m one of those guys that if you find a good restaurant, I could eat at that restaurant every time we go out,” Brunson says of being routine-oriented. “I think that gets your mind right. Once you’re in that zone of doing what you got to do to be ready for the game, it kind of takes the thought process out of worrying about other things. I don’t run any errands on game day. Sometimes I’ll stop and get a tea on the way to games, but I’m not trying to do anything to make me not think about being ready for the game. If I’m in that routine, I’m not thinking about anything. My mind is just, like, free.” 

It was Sandra who taught him the art of goal-setting. While Rick was working in Charlotte as an assistant coach with the Bobcats, the rest of the family lived in Illinois. Sandra wanted Jalen and his sister to have a way to focus on themselves and their own goals, rather than on why their father wasn’t there or how long he’d be gone. It all started organically—school would begin in August, and Sandra would ask, What are your goals this year? What do you want to do? Jalen started getting creative with it, and would draft them up on the computer and hang them around his room. “I told him, It’s great to have goals and dreams but let’s stick with realistic goals. What are the things you can really achieve, right now? Let’s not think about down the road, like, Oh, I want to be in the NBA. That’s great. But let’s think about 10th grade. What do you want to do?” 

That year, Brunson led Stevenson HS to a state championship against Simeon Career Academy, who was stacked with standouts like Jabari Parker and Kendrick Nunn. By his junior year, the five-star recruit was averaging 26.1 points and was named Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. When Villanova head coach Jay Wright came over for a home visit, Sandra recalls him noticing the pieces of paper taped onto the walls in his bedroom. 

Fast forward to Brunson’s junior year at Villanova, when he wrote down all of his academic and athletic goals and typed them up on the computer. He added on-court images of himself in the backdrop and then placed his goals as overlay text in an all-caps, bold white font. He hung the two pieces of paper on his dorm room’s white wall—on the left side were his academic goals, from graduating in the summer of 2018 to making the All-American, Big East and Big Five Academic teams, and on the right were his athletic goals. Those were very specific and performance-based: 2018 First-Team All American, All-Big East, All-Big Five. There were also some team-oriented ones—conference regular season and tournament champions, and winning an NCAA National Championship.

He’d then send Sandra the picture of those goals hanging on the wall to prove to her that he actually did them. Sandra still has the picture on her phone, which she shared with SLAM via text mid-interview. 

“It was a thing, and it stuck,” she says of the goal setting. “I don’t really put too much pressure on him now. I still say, What are your goals? And I’ll text him, [but] I don’t see [them written down] in his apartment. Maybe it’s in his locker, or maybe it’s more internal.”

“That’s how I measure myself. I see these goals, and [how] I’m going to get there,” Brunson explains. “They’re mostly short term, for that year, I have long term goals of course, but that’s how I measure myself.” 

Preparedness, consistency and staying true to himself and the work have become the foundational fabrics to his approach. It’s how he solidified himself as one of the best guards ever to suit up for the Wildcats, but even then, Brunson wanted more. “I was a version of myself, I guess I technically didn’t know I had. I always knew I was good, playing the post, but we really used it as a weapon,” he says in retrospect. “I would say that where I was then was a perfect place, because I knew that I had accomplished a lot, I did a lot [and] was successful, but I knew I had so much more room to grow.”

When he came into the L as a rookie, Brunson found himself having to work his way up. He  averaged just 9.3 points in 21.8 minutes of action. “That’s something that I’ve done at every stage in my career, high school, college and the pros. I have no problem with it, and honestly it makes me better. It makes me hungry, not really complacent. I’m always trying to find ways to improve myself. I just knew that whenever I got my opportunity, I was gonna make the most of it.”

Now in his fourth year, Brunson’s pursuit of consistency put him in a prominent spot in the team’s starting lineup, having started in 61 regular season games, averaging 16.3 points. When the team has needed him the most, Brunson has more than delivered. During a 10-game stretch in December, when many of his teammates, including Luka Doncic, were out due to injuries and COVID protocols, he steadily put up double-digit figures and averaged 21 points while shooting 51.3 percent from the field. 

“That’s when it really clicked. I had some good games in the beginning of the year, but I think that stretch kind of solidified how people view me a little bit. My coaches know, my teammates know, and that’s all I really care about, [but] I guess people started to see and take notice. Thank you for noticing, but I’m doing this for myself, my team.” 

His words echo yet another lesson instilled in him by his parents. It was Rick who suggested to Sandra one day that she print out what people were saying, or inspirational quotes, onto sticky notes. Sandra placed them all around the house—in the bathroom, on the fridge, the television and mirrors. Seeing is believing, and when every corner in your place has a note reminding you of who you are, eventually, it becomes ingrained.

Rather than ride the wave of a good game, or in his case, the best season of his career so far, Brunson says that for him, it’s the standard. “Sometimes after games, yeah, I’ll watch [them] over and stuff like that, but [the feeling] is short term because I feel the same way when I don’t play well. I can’t be riding a hot streak of playing well, [or] when a bad day comes, I gotta switch it up. Whether it’s good or bad, gotta move forward. 

“Just staying consistent with work, and obviously a little more opportunity helps, [but] I think being able to have [Jason] Kidd as a coach has really helped me understand things that I thought I already knew. Hearing it from someone else definitely could help me. He’s pushed me, he expects the best out of me every time. I do appreciate that, because it just doesn’t keep me satisfied. That’s how my dad was, just always wanting more, more, more.”

When Brunson dished a pass to Dorian Finney-Smith in the corner for the game-winning shot against the Kings in March, it was Kidd who came in with the constructive criticism while everyone else praised him. “He was like, ‘Oh, you should have went a little later. We wanted the last, last shot. Great pass though. Everyone else was like, Oh, he kind of just stole your show, and in my mind I’m like, Yeah, but like, when I think about it, that’s what I want. I want them to be coached like that. If people see me being coached like that, that gains a lot of respect from my teammates. I’m all about what the team needs, I’m all about respect. I’ll do anything to earn that respect.” 

As the Mavericks get ready to face the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of the opening round of the playoffs, Brunson isn’t forgetting what happened last year. The loss still sits with him. “I haven’t moved past it. I still think about it, in a good way. I’ve always done well with a little bit of adversity.” 

But he’s focusing on what he can control. His family’s saying, The magic is in the work, often runs through his head, and he even wears it on two bracelets.

“You’ve got to be consistent with what you’re putting out there on the court, but most importantly, keep your routine, keep having the same mentality [and] doing the things that you do that have gotten you here. Don’t just say, I’m here, now I can take a chill pill. Like, no. Keep pushing yourself. That’s how I want to continue.”  

---

Portraits by Jonathan Lewis. Follow him on Instagram, @johnnyysilk.

The Cavaliers will get to play their Triple Towers lineup after it was reported that Jarrett Allen would play against the Hawks, barring a setback, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

See more

Jarrett Allen will play tonight vs. Atlanta in elimination Play-In Tournament game, barring setback in warmups, per @ShamsCharania. pic.twitter.com/exIpyYBiQl

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) April 15, 2022

Allen suffered a fractured finger on his left hand on March 6. The injury forced him to miss 19 games, including the Cavs’ Play-In tournament loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

The Cavs went 7-11 after Allen went down. The late-season slide forced the Cavs to fall from sixth in the East standings to eighth and play in the Play-In Tournament for the first of two chances to clinch a playoff appearance. The winner of the Cavs-Hawks matchup will take on the No. 1 seed Miami Heat on Sunday

Allen finished the regular-season averaging 16.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game in 56 appearances.

Paul George has reportedly entered the League’s health and safety protocols, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

See more

Clippers star Paul George has entered health and safety protocols and will miss tonight’s Play-in game vs. New Orleans, sources tell @TimBontemps and me.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 15, 2022

PG-13 will thus miss the Clippers contest against the Pelicans to determine who will face the Phoenix Suns as the eighth seed in the playoffs.

George posted 34 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in a Play-In Tournament loss to the Timberwolves for the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. George averaged 24.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.7 dimes per game on 42.1 percent shooting from the field.

During a post-draft press conference, the New York Liberty announced that Nyara Sabally, the fifth overall selection of the 2022 WNBA Draft, would miss the 2022 season.

See more

#BREAKING: Nyara Sabally will miss the 2022 season, per New York Liberty GM Johnathan Kolb.

“We knew heading into the selection for Nyara that there’s a very strong chance that she will not play this year because of her current health condition.” @nyliberty | #WNBA

— Women’s Hoopz (@WBBWorldWide) April 15, 2022

When asked about the process of Oregon Duck forward, Liberty GM Johnathon Kolb stated they decided to draft Sabally being fully aware of her health concerns. Sabally has been held back from multiple ACL tears in her right knee. Due to knee injuries, she missed eight games during the 2021-2022 season. Sabally played just 47 games while she played for Oregon, the majority of which came last season.

“We knew heading into the selection for Nyara that there’s a very strong chance she will not play this year because of her current health condition.” Kolb said.

See more

Here’s the full video of Jonathan Kolb’s answer regarding Nyara Sabally’s health in 2022, within the context of the question asked by @GeoffJMags about the draft process. @Winsidr @NetsRepublic #WNBA #OwnTheCrown https://t.co/8LGKmIeIH3 pic.twitter.com/ogswWR3ecN

— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) April 15, 2022

Last season during the 24 games where she was on the court, Sabally was Oregon’s best player as she averaged a team-high 15.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game on 52.7 percent shooting from the field and 72.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Sabally led the Ducks (20-12) to a second-place finish in the Pac-12 and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where they lost in overtime to Belmont in the first round.

Ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers-Toronto Raptors first-round series set to open on Saturday, Joel Embiid opened up with assembled media on what playing the Raptors is like, especially on the offensive side.

See more

Joel Embiid on Toronto: “The way they defend me has never changed. They just play recklessly, sending 3 guys at me as soon as the ball is in the air. They made me better honestly, over the years, just playing against them and watching them. Definitely made me a better playmaker.”

— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) April 14, 2022

Embiid, who just became the first center to win a scoring title since Shaquille O’Neal, has averaged 29.3 points against Toronto. However, the Raptors have proven to be a challenge for The Process. Of the 13 times, Embiid has 10 or fewer points in a game; five came against Toronto. The Raptors even held him to a zero-point outing in 2019.

“The way they defend me has never changed,” Embiid told the media, per Yahoo Sports. “They just play recklessly, sending three guys at me as soon as the ball is in the air.

“They made me better, honestly, over the years, just playing against them and watching them. Definitely made me a better playmaker.”

When the two met in the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals, Coach Nick Nurse designed a defense that held Embiid to 17.3 points per game on 37 percent shooting from the field.

See more

40-PIECE FOR THE PROCESS. (via @sixers) pic.twitter.com/ul9rk5Eppw

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 8, 2022

Embiid and the 76ers hope that the solution to the defensive gameplan Nurse designs will be the Kansas products’ improved playmaking and the improved play of James Harden, who they acquired at the deadline to take them over the top as a Finals threat. The 76ers went 14-7 with Harden in the lineup this season.

It’s an early Saturday morning in April, and the Memphis Grizzlies have a rare day off. The players have come to the arena to participate in a celebratory event for season ticket holders, which includes a game of Simon Says that quickly escalates and becomes competitive—when head coach Taylor Jenkins gets eliminated, he briefly looks as though he might get T’d up. 

In many ways, it’s indicative of the competitive culture this Grizzlies team has embraced. “Get better every single day,” Jenkins says, when asked to summarize his system. “Simple as that. We know our goal is to just find our best version. I’m repetitive because I don’t want them to be thinking anything other than, Hey, there’s going to be this marker that people are going to talk about. We are really trying to find our best selves defensively, offensively, spirit-wise, all that just gets better every single day.”

SLAM 238 featuring the Memphis Grizzlies is available now.

Even though the season isn’t quite over yet, the Grizzlies indulging in some fun feels appropriate. One season ago, Memphis was fighting to finish anywhere above .500 and make the play-in game. This season, as the second-youngest team in the NBA, the Grizzlies finished 56-26, the second-best record in the League and tied for the most wins in franchise history. The Grizzlies are the first team in the history of the NBA to lead the League in rebounds, blocks and steals, and have contributors firmly in the conversations for MVP, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player.

A little over a year ago, Ja Morant was on the cover of SLAM fronting a story about how the Grizzlies seemed poised to go from rebuilding to contending. Well, that future is right now. These Grizzlies have proven that a youth movement in modern sports can be a good thing, maybe even a great thing. 

The crazy part is how it almost didn’t even turn out this way. The Grizzlies began this season 9-10 and had the worst defense in the NBA. And then, just when you thought things looked dim, in the final game of that opening stretch, Morant went out with a non-contact knee injury. Things went from dim to dimmer.

While Morant avoided serious injury, he did miss a few weeks, and the Grizzlies promptly won 10 of their next 11. Ever since then, the Grizzlies have pulled off a dazzling transformation, morphing into a top-five team on both defense and offense. How did this happen? If it was easy to figure out, everyone would be able to do it. But a franchise that won only 22 games five seasons ago has turned into a victory machine. Winning time? Right now, that’s in Memphis, mane.

A few minutes after Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke is crowned the Simon Says champ, Jaren Jackson Jr sprawls on a couch near the locker room. Jackson, in his fourth NBA season, is still just 22 years old, a few weeks younger than Morant. Jackson Jr or “Trip” as he is known among his teammates, has embraced the nickname “Block Panther,” emerging as the interior defensive stopper who allows his teammates on the perimeter to swipe at loose balls and overplay passing lanes. Besides leading the NBA in blocked shots, he’s also second on the Grizz in three-point attempts, making him a prototypical modern big in today’s NBA.

“The culture here is crazy,” Trip says. “We don’t know how important it is, because we just do it naturally. It’s just ironic that we all kind of hang out and do the same stuff, enjoy the same stuff. We just ride with it. But it obviously helps—it helps us win, it helps us communicate, it helps us understand each other better off the court. It’s just a big deal for us. We love it.

“We just kick it with each other. We go out to eat, we hang out, we go to each other’s rooms on the road, we go play video games—we just chill.”

Perhaps no Grizzlies player is more chill than Dillon Brooks, who always arrives for press conferences wearing sunglasses and speaks in a whisper. Yet on the floor, he plays with ferocity, particularly on the defensive end, a clear throwback to the Grizzlies’ grit-and-grind heritage. (“I’m trying to smile more so I don’t get too upset out there and they start teeing me up again,” Brooks recently joked.) In his fifth season in Memphis, Brooks is the longest-tenured Grizzlies player, and also the their second leading scorer this season, at 18.4 ppg. Still, his relentless defense-first mindset seems to set the tone for much of what the Grizzlies do.

Brooks cites improved team defense as a reason for the Grizzlies’ current success. “Play physical,” he says. “Make the refs call every single foul and see if they can do it. Slide our feet from one to 12. We are contesting at the rim, and we are doing it as a team. Playing team defense, communicating, talking. It is really good to see us get out and run and do what we are good at. That is what we have to bring to the playoffs.”

Morant sees a major difference between this year’s team and last season’s squad: “Attention to detail,” he says. “I feel like we’re way more locked in. No matter what goes on during the game, if we’re missing some shots we move on. And I feel like last year we had times where we missed coverages, where we talked about it for two days, and teams made us pay for that. And I feel like now we’re very locked in and feel like everybody is just locked down on the defensive end and knowing we can score the basketball.”

Morant began this season with a flurry of ninja emojis on everything he tweeted, using the phrase, “Welcome to the dark.” Morant eventually provided some context, noting that the work done in the dark is eventually seen in the light. And then he welcomed the rest of the NBA into the darkness. 

Morant finished his third season averaging 27.4 points per game, and despite being listed at just 6-3, he led the NBA in points scored in the paint. There were literally dozens of highlights along the way, from Ja scoring 52 in a game (prompting an online MVP endorsement from Allen Iverson) to dunks over bigs and gravity-defying blocked shots to hitting the griddy on the way back to the locker room after every win.

Along the way, Ja turned his Twitter account into a personal bully pulpit, campaigning for Jackson Jr to win Defensive Player of the Year, for Desmond Bane to win Most Improved, for Jenkins to win Coach of the Year.

While the Grizzlies have had explosive performances from a variety of players this season—eight different players have been a game’s leading scorer this season—perhaps nobody has been more consistent than Bane, the second-year guard.

Projected as a spot-up shooter when the Grizzlies drafted him out of TCU, Bane has developed into a dynamic all-around guard, able to score off the dribble, run the offense as a secondary ballhandler and still shoot the lights out—as Jackson Jr said after a recent game, “Des is, you know, all hail Des.” Over the Grizzlies’ last 17 games, Bane led the team in scoring eight times and along the way set a franchise record for made threes in a season. 

“Coach always talks about the energy and the ball,” Bane says. “Guys tend to shoot it better as long as you just keep moving the ball. We stay consistent with our work habits and our approach. Shots are going to find a way.”

The roster that Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman and his basketball operations staff has assembled is filled with a“bunch of hoopers,” as the players like to say. Memphis finishing with the second-best record in the NBA wasn’t just because of the four guys you see on the cover of this magazine—it’s taken major contributions from guys like Steven Adams, who set a franchise record for offensive rebounds in a season. It’s been guys like Tyus Jones, who led the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio. Some nights it’s been rookie Ziaire Williams, who started 30 games this season and developed into a crucial rotation player. It’s been Kyle Anderson, who gives Jenkins incredible versatility in the lineups. It’s been Brandon Clarke, who is not only apparently great at Simon Says, but has been on the finishing end of many highlights this season. It’s been DeAnthony Melton, known as “Mr. Do-Something” for his uncanny ability to make impact plays on both ends of the court. It’s been John Konchar, Killian Tillie and Xavier Tillman Sr. Even two-way players like Santi Aldama have had memorable moments this season. 

“We have a squad,” Brooks says, “so you may not get to see those guys play a lot, but they exceed. It is special to see, and we are going to need that all year. You never know what is going to happen with injuries or COVID. Teams know when they play us, no matter who is on the floor, guys are ready to play.”

“The phrase we keep talking about,” says Jenkins, “is Everybody Eats. When you’re playing with that rhythm, that just inherently creates confidence amongst all five guys out there. It becomes infectious. It doesn’t matter when we sub guys, they just kind of pick up where that first group left off.”

For the Grizzlies, the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of their pack is the wolf. Every player has embraced their role, and whenever their time comes, each player is ready to play. With so many young players destined to be in Memphis for a while, the future looks blindingly bright. But don’t overlook the present, either.

“We expect to win every game we play,” Jackson Jr says. “We don’t go in thinking that we’re down, even if we don’t have players playing. Because the way we’re taught to play, everybody knows how we’re supposed to play—move the ball, make defenses work. We like to tire teams out, run them, make them work on defense. We work so hard on defense. Everybody can play defense. If you play defense, you’re going to end up hooping.”

And somewhere on the journey, the Grizzlies figured out that playing with a little attitude was a good thing. Against the Lakers in January, Desmond Bane brushed against LeBron James, who pushed back and caused a momentary pile-up in the paint. As Bane stepped to the charity stripe, LeBron could be overheard on the broadcast telling the Grizzlies to stop talking ish. The Grizzlies would go on to beat the Lake Show, 127-119, for their ninth straight win. 

A few weeks later, after the Grizz drubbed the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on national television, Jaren Jackson Jr and Morant faced the media together. 

“We play with energy, we play with intensity,” Trip said. “We love that. That brings joy to us. That back and forth, that’s just what we like, so, if you want to play that game, we can play that game. It’s cool. It’s all in between the lines. It’s never personal. I don’t care who I’m talking to, it’s just a person, and I’m just going to say what I feel, and I’m going to do what I feel, too.”

And then Morant sat up in his chair, and with a smile, summarized the Grizzlies way, for a team and a city that has been overlooked for far too long: “Ain’t no runnin’ in the M, man. We climb up the chimney.”

“Yeah, for sure,” agreed Trip.

“We gonna let everybody know that we’re here,” continued Morant. “We’re gonna play hard, trying to get a win.

“And if you don’t like it?” Morant asked rhetorically.

“Oh well.”

---

SLAM 238 is available now in these Gold and Black Metal Editions, as well as a Cover Tee. Shop now.

• 

• 

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson.

Draymond Green is known for being blunt when it comes to expressing his thoughts. During a recent episode of his podcast the three-time NBA champion made an honest admission.

He concurred with those who say that the Warriors stars could not do it without each other on the team. On the other hand Green said that what he, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have built together is beautiful.

“There’s always this notion of ‘Draymond can’t do it without Steph’ or ‘He can’t do it without Klay,’ and I’ll be 100% honest, I can’t,” Green said. “On the flip side Klay can’t do it without Steph and Dryamond, and Steph can’t do it without Klay and Draymond.

“I think for me what we’ve built, it’s not that I can’t go on and do something else. It’s not that you wouldn’t be successful playing with someone else, it’s not that Klay couldn’t go to the Lakers tomorrow and be Klay… it’s not that. It’s just not as beautiful as what we’ve been able to do together.

“F*ck everybody who say I can’t or he can’t or Klay can’t. You’re right, we can’t. We can’t do it without each other. But we’re damn good doing it together.”

Luka Dončić will miss at least Game 1 against the Jazz due to a strained calf, according to Shams Charania.

See more

Mavericks star Luka Doncic is expected to miss Game 1 vs. Jazz on Saturday night due to strained calf, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

The latest regarding Doncic: https://t.co/bEFYKs2gmk

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 14, 2022

Dončić suffered the injury last Sunday in the third quarter of the Mavericks’ season finale against the Spurs. Dončić playing at all in the third frame came with some derision, although the Mavs had an incentive to play their starters. Had the Mavs won, and the Warriors lost against the Pelicans, Dallas would’ve entered the playoffs as the third seed. However, that scenario didn’t play out because the Warriors blew the Pelicans out 128-107.

Coach Jason Kidd said seeding didn’t affect his decision to play Dončić and his starters. Kidd also said he intended to always play his starters through the third due to a long layoff between their last regular-season game and playoffs starting.

Dončić averaged 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game on 45.7 percent shooting from the field and 35.5 percent shooting three-point territory.