Haters gonna hate

Memphis Grizzlies, brush that ish off your shoulders. I represented All Heart in Hoop City at the end of season media session. I talked to players. One on one, one by one. Each player expressed disappointment in letting fan’s down, and at the way the season ended. We all wanted that ring, for that is the goal of every season. The hurt and disappointment displayed broke my heart.

I am dismayed and quite angry at the at the lack of support and criticism rippling through Grizz Nation. It is absolutely disrespectful. There is constructive criticism, and there is borderline hateful. Our Grizzly players are human. They are mortal men, elevated to superhumans on the backs of fans. Yet there are no capes. They break bones. They have emotions. Every game they suit up.

Marc Gasol said it best, “We shouldn’t be celebrities. We’re just men.” Talented men that put their bodies through the wringer to provide this city something that extends far off the hardwood.

I’ve written on more than one occasion how the Grizz organization brought to Memphis a united feeling of community. I’ve also lived in Memphis long enough to know we’re a fickle bunch. We’ll love you when you win, but the minute you don’t we’re vicious. I thought this season would be different. The feeling of community is on the verge of collapse.

This season was nothing short of phenomenal. The season exploded out the gate. Momentum steam rolled through the city. The Grizz were compared to the Bad Boys of Detroit, which is a little ironic considering this city is on the verge of Detroit like economic collapse. Our firefighters and police officers had their benefits and pensions taken away by the city council. Think about that.

The Grizzlies are part of the economic heartbeat of Memphis. The Forum is also the one place we can all just get along. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Yes, we got knocked out in the second round, but does that mean we’re not still chasing greater? Immediately the criticism started. Are there things that could have been done differently? Of course. Every fan has an opinion. What I’m seeing is bashing. Trade him. Now. Trade everyone. Fire everyone. Oh, and is Gasol coming back? Because if he doesn’t that’s LeBron level betrayal. Or in Memphis, Calapari level.

Courtney Lee, Jeff Green, Tony Allen, even Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley’s abilities are being called into question. Who should we trade for whom? There is not a single name on that list that is not or has not been recently injured. The kind of injuries that would have fans benched from daily functional activities. Hamstrings, faces, knees, ankles, back injuries. The kind of injury that if you were a prized thoroughbred would have you being led to the pasture and shot.

It’s not what occurs on the court that I want to discuss. Yes changes could have been made. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. I’d like to refocus the fishbowl, and take a look at the positive contributions these men make to our community. On the court they bring us together, off the court they help to heal this city.

Marc Gasol began his basketball career in Memphis in high school when his brother Pau came to play for the Grizzlies in 2001. The Grizzlies are a Gasol family affair. Marc coming to the franchise was part of the trade negotiation that sent Pau to the Los Angeles Lakers. Where he won two rings. While Pau’s Memphis ties do not perhaps run as deep as Marc’s, this is, bottom line, a business. Whatever decision Marc makes will be a business decision. There are emotions involved, of course, and do not think for a moment that Gasol is not aware of the emotional fall out from his adopted hometown should he decide to leave. I digress…

Marc and Pau founded the Gasol Foundation, whose mission is dedicated to the empowerment of youth in living healthier lives. Last year alone the foundation raised over 27 million dollars. In addition to his foundation, Marc is heavily involved in charity work with and for St. Jude Children Hospital. He works quietly, without fanfare, with no need for accolades. Marc Gasol’s charitable efforts are not limited to within the borders of the United States. He is also heavily invested in Barcelona, Spain. He is as involved and invested in childhood health in Barcelona as he is in Memphis. He donated 150 bicycles in San Miguel, Barcelona. Big Spain is as important to Memphis off the hardwood as he is suited up in Grizzly blue.

Mike Conley, our fourth round draft pick, most underrated point guard in the league, is also a leading charitable volunteer. In 2014 Conley won the Joe Dumars Trophy for sportsmanship. He received 77 first place votes from his peers and NBA affiliates for sportsmanship both on and off the floor. The award also came with a $10,000 donation to the charity of Conley’s choosing. His choice? St. Jude for sickle cell research. A cause that is close to Conley as two of his nephews suffer from sickle cell. If you’re wondering who the second place runner up happened to be, it was newly acquired Grizzly Jeff Green.

Conley is also the second player to be appointed to the board of the Grizzlies Foundation. The first? Pau  Gasol. Mike Conley was appointed due to his work in youth mentoring. He routinely mentors youth here in Memphis, and is a firm believer in education. Conley has participated in the Top Spin ping pong tournament benefitting education. He hosts bowling tournaments supporting Methodist sickle cell department and research.

Tony Allen. Without Tony Allen, Memphis is a different ball club. First Team All Defense is the cornerstone of Grit n Grind. The Grindfather. How can you dare speak of a trade involving the Grindfather? Take it to the mattresses and sleep with the fishes. Someone somewhere in this city is probably waking with a horse head in their bed.

Tony Allen kicked Chris Paul in the face, earning him his first, and only, ejection and suspension. It was an accidental drive-by kicking, but Grizz Nation rejoiced in seeing comeuppance delivered to an arch rival. The moment even spurred a meme: Don’t keep calm, kick ’em in the face like Tony Allen does. Tony Allen took that moment and turned it into an opportunity to raise awareness and money. He signed and auctioned off the shoes he was wearing that game for St. Jude.

Allen also holds an annual karaoke night benefitting JIFF Inc. It is by and far one of the most fun events to attend. If Tony Allen had a reality show I would binge watch.  In addition, Tony also works hand in hand with the Boys and Girls Club of Memphis. He, along with fellow Grizz Zach Randolph, and in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club, provided 200 children with $100 gift certificates to Toys R Us, for the last several years.  Allen also joined with Randolph to create, and host, a manicure/pedicure party at the Westin Hotel for 14 women, and 20 kids, from the Memphis Family Shelter.

Zach Randolph is the largest philanthropist of the Grizzly roster.  For the past several years Randolph has donated $20,000 to the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association to cover the utilities of over 100 families. Randolph is also an animal advocate, that raises pit bulls. He donated $10,000 to send an injured pit bull, rescued from a drainage ditch, to famed rehab center Villalobos in New Orleans. He also appeared on the Villalobos based show Pit Bulls and Parolees, when he visited to check on the progress of the dog. Randolph has twice been awarded the Kia Community Assist Award which donated $10,000 per award to the Make a Wish Foundation.  Randolph also purchased and distributed 100 winter coats to Cumming Elementary School. In Memphis, and Marion, Indiana, he sponsors 100 children, for $100, for the Salvation Army Angel Tree. That is in addition to the 200 Boys and Girls Club children he and Tony Allen personally shopped with at Toy R Us. Randolph also took notice of other children in the store that were not affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club, and provided Christmas for them as well on the spot. Every year Randolph and Tony Allen donate and deliver 900 Thanksgiving baskets to families in need. Randolph then turns around and does the same in Indiana.

Jeff Green has not been in Memphis very long, but immediately immersed himself in volunteer work. Jeff Green had open heart surgery to repair an aneurism in 2012. Jeff goes to Lebonheur and spends time with children and adults that find themselves in the same predicament. He does the same at St. Jude.  As I mentioned before Jeff Green was the runner up for the Joe Dumars Trophy in sportsmanship last year for endeavors off the court in Boston.

Community service is a part of the Grizzlies organization. In 2012 the Grizzlies were named the sports team of the year at the 2012 Beyond Sport Summit in London. This award was due to service in the community off the court. The Grizzlies hold events like the Staxtacular event, an annual fundraiser that has an evening of players and fans mingling with Memphis historic music.

There are many more philanthropic endeavors that the Grizzlies as an organization, and as individuals, participate. All of the players donate financially, as well as volunteer time to benefit personal causes. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. For gentlemen that pass through here, or that retire here, their commitment to Memphis goes beyond the hardwood of the Forum. They make an impact, and an effort to make Memphis a better place. While they entertain us on the floor, their influence can be felt beyond the playground where their moves are attempted to be replicated.  These are people I want to remain in my community. We should all take a page out of the Grizz playbook and give back to Memphis. Let’s make this city a place players want to come play in, and a place players remain.  The season of basketball has come to a close, let the season of giving back begin. We are All Heart in Hoop City.