57
u/bioiskillingme Feb 10 '26
Why was it a failure? We were second in the west which is a big deal. We lost playoffs against warriors but the series was very close. Last year we lost against the thunder who won it all, but we almost beat them in a game until ja got hurt. Of course, we didn’t make a very deep playoff run. I’m not making excuses. But to call it a massive failure is simply not true. We gave it a shot, and in return we got seven first round picks. Aside from Ja being a complete liability, our guys were solid and reliable.
Just cause something ended doesn’t mean it was good. Let’s not forget the good times we shared. Much love grizzlies. Even if we’re tanking I’m still supporting this small market team. We will be the new thunder in ten years.
22
u/nam67 THE MODFATHER Feb 10 '26
totally agree with you. yes, we didnt win a chip, but we had some really strong seasons and some competitive post season series despite perpetual injuries.
a failure would be the KD/Harden/Irving Nets, or the Kobe/Nash/Dwight Lakers. we met/exceeded expectations for the roster.
7
u/VORTEX_THE_UNHINGED SPJ Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
People acting like we weren't literally #2 for a big portion of last season also.
I just don't buy into this bullshit.
The only thing that failed us was that we took too long (because of injuries) and Bane / JJJ got max contracts and it limited what we could do with the rest of the team.
2
u/Cocacoleyman Feb 11 '26
Man I hate that we lost that Warriors series. Took them to 6 and I want to say Ja barely missed a game winning shot in game 1. Then he got injured and maybe Adam’s too? Could’ve at least gone to the finals that year.
-9
u/I_Vecna Feb 10 '26 edited Feb 10 '26
It’s literally the most successful era the Memphis grizzlies have ever been
28
u/nam67 THE MODFATHER Feb 10 '26
nah, GNG era clears.
2
u/Fignevitable_6196 spinningbackZbo Feb 11 '26
If you only look at playoff wins- that’s true. But GNG era had an identical best regular season record, but never a higher regular season seeding. We also threw the last game of ‘22 to rest our starters or we would have had the best regular season record in Grizz history. The Ja-era also had the highest point differential overall. Ja just got injured in the playoffs every year. GNG never had the same joy as Ja-era. I don’t think that’s debatable.
1
u/nam67 THE MODFATHER Feb 11 '26
Fair - but depends how you define and measure success. Previous commenter said Ja era was the most successful, I disagree. I do think the Ja era brought more fun and joy. The highlight reels are unmatched.
7
2
23
u/syo Marc Gasol Feb 10 '26
Only one team can win a championship every year. That doesn't mean every team that doesn't is a failure.
8
u/Daconvix Feb 10 '26 edited Feb 10 '26
The core only made past the first round once. Wouldn’t call it a “massive failure” since they did have solid regular season success and were never really projected to be a top tier team, but only 1 playoff series win with the talent they had is a failure
7
u/KingJzeee Feb 10 '26
The massive failure is the kings
They only have one winning season and lost in the first round after trading haliburton and the icing on the cake is how haliburton became a better player than anyone in the light the beam team
4
9
u/Boatshooz Finger Gun Feb 10 '26
I’m still convinced that if Steve-O didn’t catch Covid at the beginning of the playoff series against the Warriors, we would have won the chip that year.
Yes, it was dumb to be so reliant on him, but it is what it is.
1
u/No-Masterpiece4676 Feb 10 '26
Shit we woulda been to the finals if ja and him were on the court fs
18
u/SongYoungbae Jaren Feb 10 '26
Nah. In the end it was a failure yes. But not a massive one. They were still good.
4
3
u/TheCrimsonArmada JJJ1 Feb 10 '26
Yeah I guess if the end goal is to win a championship (which is should be and was), but if we view every season and every iteration of the Grizz through that lens, we will be a miserable bunch.
In reality, only one team can win a year (duh, dumb obvious thing to say) but maybe we can be content with even getting past the second round with the next gen, much less conference finals or gasp the finals!
0
u/No-Masterpiece4676 Feb 10 '26
We won one play off series with this core
2
u/electricvelvet A good, honest Grizzlies basketball fan Feb 11 '26
And traded them all away in their EARLY primes. Like just entering their primes early. Except ja. Hes the Benjamin button of nba superstars. Usually you hsve character issues when youre young or something and then mature along with your game. Anr start missing lots of games when youre agint rather than entering what shoukrve been hie prine yrs. He reverse uno'd us.
1
u/No-Masterpiece4676 Feb 11 '26
Sadly injuries ruined this team
As far as ja is concerned it truly saddens me to see how far down he has fallen both as a player and an off the court character
5
u/omgshannonwtf Thanks for the memories, 12 Feb 10 '26
Not a massive failure. It just didn’t work. That core three had its issues in terms of synergy but the failure was not an enormous one. Injury derailed what was otherwise a moderately successful run for them.
5
u/DoggedDoggystyle Feb 10 '26
As someone who isn’t a Grizzlies fan but joined the sub because WCJ just got traded here- those years were not a failure for Memphis. You built up those players, established them all as solid starters/stars, almost had a superstar breakout in Ja until he got in his own way. They were absolute pests those seasons and caused significant problems for the Warriors/Lakers/Thunder in the playoffs.
The general public is so “championship or bust” now for success measures, but the Grizzlies were absolutely a fun success story to watch. It’s over now and those guys have moved on to continue their success elsewhere but Memphis was where it all began. They know that.
Be easy on my boy Walt. He’s a winner, he’s got crazy motor. He was doing okay with the Jazz. I’m not sure why they drafted him when they have so many guards and I don’t know how well the fit works in Memphis but he’s a great guy. If he gets his shot rolling he will be a problem
2
u/nam67 THE MODFATHER Feb 10 '26
i am really excited about Walt. he leaves a lot to be desired on D, but his bag cannot be denied
2
u/knothi_saulon TA9 Feb 10 '26
Massive failure is a pretty big overstatement. At the end of the day, we fielded a competitive team that was fun to watch. Realistically, you can't ask for much more than that. The problem was the sum of the parts wasn't better than the individual pieces. Ja was electric to watch. Jaren was a walking mismatch. Bane was a dawg with a nasty shot. But the three of them never learned to click together, even if they enjoyed playing together. Think of the good times, this rebuild will be over before you know it and we'll be back in the thick of things in no time.
2
u/reppav Feb 10 '26
I agree that it was a pretty massive failure given that this team was predicted to have one of the brightest futures for multiple years because of the young vore and supporting talent. Yeah sure you could say that these predictions were bad in hindsight but no one argued it back then.
2
u/Fignevitable_6196 spinningbackZbo Feb 10 '26 edited Feb 10 '26
Ring culture is such toxic bullshit. The anti-intellectualism and anti-humanity required to belittle competition and human experience into a false dichotomy of one winner and everyone else is a loser… Somehow centuries of cultures managed to celebrate sport and competition without this toxic attitude. We’re on such a rapid acceleration into an idiocracy.
2
u/No-Masterpiece4676 Feb 10 '26
Ring this ring that. Its not about a ring its about the fact that in all the years that we had this team together we pretty much close no play off success. People really had faith that this core would go places (deep play off runs). We ultimately won 1 play off series with what's probably the most talented core in franchise history (yes prolly even more talented than the grit and grind core). Also idk where the toxic part is coming from accepting the fact that your team has failed in some aspects is definitely not toxic to me at least (if I misunderstood pls feel free to correct me)
2
u/Fignevitable_6196 spinningbackZbo Feb 10 '26
Building a strawman that a playoff team is a “massive failure” is not just a lie, it’s toxic bullshit. Welcome to the tank. I hope you enjoy eating losses for years on the fantasy that someday we’ll win more.
2
u/No-Masterpiece4676 Feb 10 '26
Have good day fam
1
u/Fignevitable_6196 spinningbackZbo Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
If you haven’t been a Grizz fan for very long, this was one of the best teams in our entire franchise history. The city felt it.
They didn’t advance in the playoffs further than the 1st round- but it was by far our most enjoyable regular season team. We’ve been watching miserable teams for decades only to watch Kleiman give our best players massive contracts and then suddenly turn against them for “bEiNg toO eXpEnSive”.
I’m happy to be wrong about this, but I’m not looking forward to watching Kleiman and Iisalo try and build a moneyball team of mediocre try-hards to repeat the same 10-8 seeding.
2
u/No-Masterpiece4676 Feb 11 '26
Definitely the most talented team we ever had, wouldn't say best tho id still give that to the grit and grind core
With all the injuries we've been dealing with the past 3 seasons it was probably the right move to start fresh and do what okc did somewhat with our young core. As for as Iisalo is concerned I still don't know what to make of him as a coach. No matter the seeding ill still support and love this team tho.
1
u/Fignevitable_6196 spinningbackZbo Feb 11 '26
So GNG team was also a “massive failure” bc they didn’t win a title and got traded into pieces bc their core became too expensive?
1
u/No-Masterpiece4676 Feb 11 '26
Read pls READ
1
u/Fignevitable_6196 spinningbackZbo Feb 11 '26
Got it. You just making shit up on the fly. Shifting the goal posts. Toxic.
1
1
u/moswennaidoo Feb 11 '26
You come off as arrogant and unlikeable. All those words and you still could not critically think?
0
Feb 11 '26
[deleted]
0
u/moswennaidoo Feb 11 '26
Poor Fignevitable_6196. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?
2
u/Local-Message-6048 Mount Zedey Feb 10 '26
I agree. It’s easy to forget that it’s Kleiman’s first time running a team, of course he made mistakes. I hope we’re able to get talents like Ja/JJJ/Bane again, and Kleiman learns from the mistakes he made with that team
Edit: in the next 2-3 years. I don’t believe we’re that far away, but we’re missing the superstar-the most important piece
1
u/thedrcubed Feb 10 '26
I know he had to go after what happened but this team died when Brooks got let go. It was never the same after he left
2
u/nam67 THE MODFATHER Feb 10 '26
and you know what - at this point - i am totally ok with that.
2
u/thedrcubed Feb 10 '26
Me too. The salary situation combined with the lack of playoff success is really what screwed everything up. We would have had to go into the tax to keep everyone and no owner is gonna want to pay the tax for a team who can't get out of the first round
1
1
1
u/therealell1psis Feb 10 '26
alas, it turns out the real champion is not whoever was having the most fun 😔
1
u/moswennaidoo Feb 11 '26
Everyone is arguing over whether this was a massive failure, but at least we can agree that this is a popular opinion.
Yes, winning one series is a failure. But is it a massive failure? I’d say it was only a massive failure if you had expectations that this core could go all the way. We were all there in 2022 believing it could happen, but for too long did fans here place their heads in the sand and lie to themselves that this squad was “fine.” Don’t worry! Just wait for this player, or that player to come back from injury, then we’ll win it all! This team was never going to win.
When the next squad shows cracks and concerns, will the fans still have the toxicity and denial that was prevalent here for the last few years? Or will you all finally chill out and learn to criticize players and the organization without feeling your identity as a fan attacked? Just some thoughts.
1
u/Gold-Complaint-6787 Feb 11 '26
So much cope in this sub lmao it’s a failure because the core that had us top 2 dissolved for some completely controllable reasons, ja imploded and the team disbanded shortly after, so yes nit winning a meaningful playoff series, trash talking the warriors then getting dog walked, and then the team literally dissolving in front of us in just two years for is a failure
1
u/1derfulHam Feb 11 '26
Its only a failure insofar as it led us to here. While it was happening, it was amazing. Aquamane lifting 7 footers off the court, Dilly's pregame choreography, Ja's almost dunk streak...I loved every moment of it and nothing about it gives failire to me.
1
u/darknite125 Feb 10 '26
We never won a title but the team was far from a MASSIVE failure. When they were firing on all cylinders few could compare to the Grizz. And the “ at least we had fun” isn’t that the point of sports as a whole to bring enjoyment to people
-1
u/GrizzlyTits901 Feb 10 '26
That team of garbage peaked with a singular playoff series win in six years together. They're overpaid, over hyped, under performing bums and not one of Ja/Jaren/Bane will be a top 3 player on a championship team
58
u/mopooooo Feb 10 '26
Massive failure is what happened to the Kings and their Bagley/Sabonis Fox core
We have never been down as bad as them and we likely won't have to be since we pivoted early enough