Tony Allen arrived in Memphis in 2010 and tried to establish a similar culture of his last team, the Boston Celtics. Allen won a ring with the Celtics in 2008 and observed the work ethic of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, James Posey, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.




Before Allen got there, the Grizzlies had a grand total of zero playoff wins as a franchise in their 15+ years of existence. Most players on the team, besides Allen, had no playoff experience. Pretty soon after his arrival, Allen's influence rubbed off on the rest of the team, and Grit 'N' Grind was born. The Grizzlies made the playoffs as the 8-seed and beat the 1-seed Spurs in six games. In Round 2, they took the eventual Western Conference champs to 7 games but lost.




In this week's episode, Allen relives his journey from Boston to Memphis, explains how he implemented a culture, breaks down his chemistry with Zach Randolph and goes in depth on his perimeter matchups with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.




Follow Forgotten Seasons (@forgottenseasonsnba) for more.



Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tony Allen arrived in Memphis in 2010 and tried to establish a similar culture of his last team, the Boston Celtics. Allen won a ring with the Celtics in 2008 and observed the work ethic of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, James Posey, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. Before Allen got there, the Grizzlies had a grand total of zero playoff wins as a franchise in their 15+ years of existence. Most players on the team, besides Allen, had no playoff experience. Pretty soon after his arrival, Allen's influence rubbed off on the rest of the team, and Grit 'N' Grind was born. The Grizzlies made the playoffs as the 8-seed and beat the 1-seed Spurs in six games. In Round 2, they took the eventual Western Conference champs to 7 games but lost. In this week's episode, Allen relives his journey from Boston to Memphis, explains how he implemented a culture, breaks down his chemistry with Zach Randolph and goes in depth on his perimeter matchups with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Follow Forgotten Seasons (@forgottenseasonsnba) for more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

Relive iconic NBA seasons through the lens of the players. Each episode of FORGOTTEN SEASONS is hosted by FS creator, Dylan Dreyfuss and 9-year NBA veteran, Jelani McCoy. On each episode, they're joined by a new NBA legend to dive deep into a specific pocket of their career.

Forgotten Seasons

Tony Allen on the Birth of Grit 'N' Grind Grizzlies

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/6e540b4f-6b46-4db8-aeef-b2a501851156/transcript