Mike Conley signed the largest contract in NBA history less than 12 months ago and, in some corners of the basketball world, the Memphis Grizzlies point guard was mocked for it. Conley famously has never been selected to the All-Star team during his ten-year professional career but that is largely due to circumstance and the conference that he plays in, much more than as a result of poor play from the 29-year-old point guard. With all of that said, Conley has a great deal of money in his pocket right now and he is putting a chunk of it to good use.
The Grizzlies announced on Tuesday that, in advance of the team’s Game 3 match-up against the San Antonio Spurs, Conley purchased 500 tickets to give away to fans as a thank you “for their tremendous support throughout the 2016-17 season.” In a cool twist, it will be Conley handing out the tickets himself after Memphis finishes practice on Wednesday, which will certainly be a nice public relations bump for both player and team.
At this point in time, no one expects the Grizzlies to rise from the dead and come back from an 0-2 deficit against a superior team in the Spurs, even amid David Fizdale’s passionate postgame address after Game 2. This Memphis team, though, is beloved in the community for their “grit and grind” mindset and Conley’s outreach in this way certainly won’t do anything to detract from the way the team is received locally.
Mike Conley is exceptionally good at playing basketball and, judging by this and the way that those close to the organization speak about him, it appears he is a pretty good guy as well.
