MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In tonight's Ransom Note: former Memphis star is in the hot seat with federal charges
Four of the former NBA players indicted today have Memphis ties, but none has a bigger fan base in this city than Tony Allen. That's right, the Tony Allen whose Grizzlies Jersey is set to officially retire at a game early next year.
Allen will always be one of my favorite Grizzlies. His seven years in Memphis were the best.
But until this matter gets resolved, the Grizzlies should postpone retiring number nine.
You can't honor a guy with a federal indictment hanging over his head.
Yes, he's paid back 350 of the $420-thousand the Feds say he took. But in doing so, he's basically admitting to claiming he went to a chiropractor he never saw and having a total of 19 root canals in California on days he wasn't even in California. All this to steal money from his health insurance.
The Grizzlies are being very evasive on this issue. After all, they're selling ticket packages for the two games when they plan to retire Allen's and Z-Bo's jerseys.
Maybe the case is closed by January, but retiring an athlete's number is an honor. And you don't honor someone, even the Grindfather, when they're accused of a federal crime.
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