NBA: All-Time Starting 5 of the Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies was founded in 1995 and their first home was in Vancouver. After five unsuccessful years in Canada led by players such as Mike Bibby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Bryant Reeves, the team relocated to Memphis and found good success.
The team made the playoffs three times in the 2000s with Pau Gasol and Jason Williams. However, they failed to win a single postseason game until this decade when the Grizzlies reached it seven times.
Despite the short history of the Grizzlies, they have produced a lot of good players and future Hall of Famers. Pau Gasol put the team on the map while Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, and Zach Randolph represented the team’s Grit and Grind Era.
Without further ado, here the five players who made the all-time starting five of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Guard – Tony Allen
The Grit and Grind Era of the Memphis Grizzlies was the most successful time in franchise history. No Grizzlies player epitomized that motto more than Tony Allen. “The Grindfather” arrived from Boston via free agency and he quickly established himself as one of the best perimeter defenders in the entire NBA.
Allen was named to three All-Defensive First Team and three All-Defensive Second Team during his seven-year tenure with the Grizzlies.
He ranks second in all-time steals for the Grizzlies and his defense helped the team make the playoffs seven times during his seven seasons. The great Kobe Bryant even named him the best defender he has ever faced.
Honorable Mention: Guard – Mike Miller
Quite possibly the best shooter in Grizzlies history, Mike Miller was with the team from 2003 to 2008.
He sits seventh in the all-time leader for points, seventh in minutes played, tenth in rebounds, sixth in assists, and second in three-pointers made. Miller won the Sixth Man of the Year in 2006.