When you talk about hoops in Memphis, you’re talking lifestyle, you’re talking culture and legacy. For generations, long before I started playing, Memphis was always known as a hoop city. They see grit and grind, they see we don’t bluff, but what they didn’t see was Larry Finch breaking the gap on hoop culture.
Gaston Park, Orange Mound Community Center, Booker T. Washington High School, Hamilton High School, Mitchell High School – that’s legacy in Memphis, with state championships to prove it.
Thirty years later, the University of Memphis comes in. Andre Turner, Penny Hardaway, Elliot Perry. Elite Eight runs, Final Fours. That was the city shining on the biggest stage, playing for something bigger than themselves.
Then thirty years after that, the Memphis Grizzlies arrive. We saw Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, Mike Conley, and now, Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. All of them engulf and embody Memphis like no other. That’s not just basketball, that’s a lifestyle.
In Memphis, basketball isn’t something we watch. It’s something we live. It’s in the gyms, in the neighborhoods, in the way we carry ourselves. It’s who we are.
