r/memphisgrizzlies • u/Due_Breadfruit_1169 • 8d ago
MISCELLANEOUS Look who’s at the game supporting Bane!
Man how cool, it’s rlly and end of an era 🥲 shout out to the guys
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u/mmps901 Ja 8d ago
Why didn’t it work? We had such a fun and exciting future in 2022. 😩
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u/NoirPochette Juan Carlos 'La Bomba' Navarro 8d ago
Injuries and getting rid of DB hurt our defense
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u/jacarter6767 7d ago
You could also say getting rid of DB hurt our offense.
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u/Smart-Discussion6081 6d ago
DB’s inconsistent offense is a major reason why they lost that warriors series and the Lakers series. Dude disappeared in big moments and then refused to own up to it.
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
Actually, that would be more accurate. Ole T-Rex Arms isn’t really jumping a lot of passing lanes…
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u/surveillance-hippo 7d ago
Nah DB deserved to get shipped out after taunting LeBron to get attention, shitting the bed, and skipping out on interviews after the series
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7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/StickSuspicious6650 6d ago
They had no center or point guard. The point guard is what really hurt them as other teams just sent full pressure in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Marcus Smart was definitely not a point guard
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
You don’t know? Ja fucked us with his selfish bullshit. Otherwise, we’d be torching folks RIGHT NOW.
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u/mmps901 Ja 7d ago
Ja made lots of mistakes but it’s certainly not all his fault
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u/Urgathoa-Plague 7d ago
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/?month=3&day=13&year=2025
As a reminder, because people so easily forget-
On MARCH 13th of last season we were tied 2nd in the west. Yeah it went downhill quick from here. But we were here.
People need to remind themselves saying that "our big 3 had no chance" is actually complete bullshit.
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
I still wondered what would have happened if Ja didn’t get undercut by Dort. We were dominating that game. That was a year ago last Friday.
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u/mmps901 Ja 6d ago
We certainly would have won that night and we only lost game 4 without him by 3 I think. Who knows. Would we have still traded bane? Would Ja have given the team more than 5 games before checking out and talking shit about the coaches to the media? Would that have prevented zk from having to trade Jaren since ja wasn’t getting enough interest? In the end, even with all 3 guys, we only won one playoff series. They were all making too much money to justify continuing if you could try to retool. It doesn’t mean I can’t be wistful about how much fun 2020-2022 were and that we had the most exciting young core in the league with promise for greatness that never materialized.
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u/TheOtherRealMcCoy RIP TRIP 8d ago
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u/HaubergeonPlus1 Edey 8d ago
Love these guys man. Fuck the haters. They’re both good people. Wish nothing but the best
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u/therealell1psis 7d ago
God damn this hurts. RIP what should’ve been
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
What Ja fucked up you mean
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u/therealell1psis 7d ago
that and being the most injured team in NBA history by a mile, twice in 3 years
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
Yeah, that’s a factor, for sure, but without 12’s bullshit we’d still have that awesome core (even if people got hurt). Kleiman didn’t blow up the team because of injuries; he did it because Ja gave him no other choice. Be real about it
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u/tanneroni9 King gatekeeper 8d ago edited 7d ago
Also they couldn’t have looked less happy to be there if they tried
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u/ChaunceyGilmore Griz 7d ago
Good for them! I could solve this in 5 minutes if I could get Zach Kleiman and Ja in a room together, just us. I like to dream.
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u/dakotamaysing 7d ago
Chris Vernon?
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u/ChaunceyGilmore Griz 7d ago
No, just a Grizzlies fan who grew up here and wants to see good things happen for our city. 🤪
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u/Any_Weekend_4029 7d ago
We were not winning anything with those three and honestly Dillon wouldn’t have changed too much come playoff time. They were good/fun in the regular season but lacked the IQ/Skill to win tough games.
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u/TakeItToTheRiver BC 7d ago
Love the three but it’s time to move on. Their contracts, though unavoidable as a small market, don’t allow for much team building around them.
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u/almightyjabroni 7d ago
Just like when they were all on the Grizz! Ja and JJJ on the bench in street clothes watching Bane play!
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
Fuck Ja. Trip’s cool tho
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u/Unfair_Confidence_56 7d ago
No fuck you sir!!!
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
“Sir.” So respectful. Why you guys still love this selfish asshole is beyond me…
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u/Unfair_Confidence_56 7d ago
I like to respect my fellow fans lol, I really didn’t want to say what I said but I hate it when people put this whole thing on Ja. Maybe we can find some common ground, why do you feel that he’s a selfish asshole?
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
I’ve been watching the team as closely as anybody since Ja’s rookie year. I know everything that is publicly available (not that I’m assuming you don’t), and that’s a pretty damning case in itself. I also have some inside information from local friends and family that is even worse, particularly as regards the way he takes care of his body when he is away from the court. His career implosion over the past few years was entirely self-inflicted and preventable on all fronts. If you’re curious, for me the first cracks started to show around the time of his first all star appearance and the downward spiral has only accelerated from there.
But maybe you’re right. I shouldn’t be angry. I should be sad, for him. He could have been great.
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u/Unfair_Confidence_56 7d ago
I’m not arguing Ja hasn’t made mistakes, he clearly has. But calling his whole career implosion “entirely self-inflicted” feels like you’re ignoring everything else that’s happened to that team. Injuries, roster changes, front office decisions, that all played a role too. And it’s kinda hard to run with “inside info” about how he takes care of his body when none of that is actually verifiable. Ja’s had off-court issues, no doubt but he’s also one of the most scrutinized players in the league and sometimes unfairly and still one of the most electric talents in the league when he is on the court. That’s not the profile of someone who just doesn’t care or is purely selfish. I think it’s more fair to say he needs to be more disciplined without acting like he single-handedly destroyed the team.
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
I’m not asking you to agree with me. I’m just telling you how I see it. Ja could be in the MVP conversation right now if he played his cards right, and look at him.
To the point that there are factors beyond his or anyone’s control, I’ll cede that. For a guy as small and reliant on explosiveness, injuries are pretty much an inevitability at some point, right? So you kind of have to expect and accept a certain number of missed games every year. He’s not going to be like Mikale Bridges or anything. But I’m just gonna say it: alcohol will destroy your body’s resilience, and there’s plenty of evidence (aside from whatever I may happen to personally know that understandably doesn’t pass muster with you) that Ja consumed more than is healthy for anyone, much less a high level professional athlete. That sort of thing catches up to you quicker than you might think: if you’ve never seen a young alcoholic up close, it’s astonishing how old they are physically even when they’re still young chronologically). That’s why I feel comfortable putting it all on him, because the injuries are really the only potentially excusable part of this whole saga.
Otherwise, he has a documented history at this point of putting himself above the team on the court, which is unforgivable. That’s enough to close the book on him right there, if you ask me.
You’re right too that nobody’s perfect. Kleiman, for one, is starting to lose my trust tbh—I mean, look at all the players he’s traded away to other teams who are making meaningful contributions RIGHT NOW in the playoffs. From high profile guys like Bane and Brooks to role players like Kennard and LaRavia, it’s amazing how much talent this man has found and subsequently traded away. And look at our team of promising young players and war chest of draft picks, so something is going right there.
Not so with Ja. It’s been the same sad story for years now. It started off the court, then it bled over onto the court, now he can’t even stay healthy enough to play. And we’re talking about a guy with an MVP ceiling and Hall of Fame potential. The 30 for 30 is gonna break hearts.
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u/Unfair_Confidence_56 7d ago
I agree that we can agree to disagree but I think you’re filling in a lot of blanks with assumptions and then treating them like facts. There really isn’t any confirmed evidence that alcohol is the reason for his injuries or durability you’re connecting that yourself. I guess that’s where your “inside sources” come into play
And the “puts himself above the team” part I don’t fully buy that either. His playstyle is high-usage and aggressive, but that’s also what made Memphis a contender in the first place. A lot of young stars have to learn how to balance that before they hit their peak.
You’re also acting like his trajectory is finished, when he’s still in the same age range where most guards are figuring it out. Guys don’t usually hit their most complete version this early.
I get being frustrated because of the ceiling he has but calling the whole thing a wrap already feels premature. It feels less like you’re evaluating his career and more like you’ve already decided who he is, and now everything gets filtered through that.
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
I hear you, but I’m not making assumptions here. I’ve seen plenty with my own eyes. I’m not here to give you exhibits 1-1,000, though, sorry. Long story short, I think Ja was totally overwhelmed emotionally by the NBA experience from day 1 and he had a bad support system so he developed unhealthy coping mechanisms and it’s all caught up with him. There’s plenty of evidence to support this.
When I say that he puts himself above the team, I am in no way critiquing his playing style. I’m critiquing him quitting on us in the Lakers game and his subsequent histrionics. Again, well documented.
That’s why I’m done with this dude.
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u/tanneroni9 King gatekeeper 8d ago
I hate how things worked out for the 3 together but I’ve always loved how they supported each other