MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The 2024-2025 Memphis Grizzlies season could not get here sooner. The fanbase of the team is ready to put to bed the nightmare that was last season, riddled with injuries, and start fresh. So, too, is the team. Monday, the Grizzlies held Media Day.
Each member of the roster answered numerous questions about their summer, their health and plans for the year.
One interview stuck out: Brandon Clarke's.
“Last year, we felt like losers,” Clarke said. “We felt what it was like to go through every day [knowing] you were probably going to lose the game. We went from beating everybody to losing to everybody, and it’s a big-time different feeling.”
Head coach Taylor Jenkins put it a little lighter, calling last season "humbling."
This year, the Grizzlies start fresh.
The team is mostly healthy, just one summer removed from a season where they set a record for most injured team in the NBA.
Grizzlies General Manager Zach Kleiman is confident in the group he has entering training camp. Mostly because the Grizzlies Big 3 of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are all back in the mix.
"I think that's one of [the best], if not the best three-man cores in the NBA," Kleiman said. "I firmly believe that. We've spent years trying to think about what are the type of players that fit best around them, and I think every year we have trended more and more in that direction."
The roster around them includes a former defensive player of the year in Marcus Smart, back after a hand injury shortened his time in 2023-2024.
It also includes a 7'4" rookie center in Zach Edey, who figures to be in the Rookie of the Year conversation.
And it includes Luke Kennard, back in Memphis on a one-year contract and one of the best shooters in the league.
And it includes newfound confidence for wings Vince Williams and GG Jackson, two players who took major leaps in 2023-2024 thanks to a depleted roster, although they themselves will be injured to start the year.
"100 percent," said Bane, when asked if the team could win a championship right now. "I think that we're built to compete for it this year and the years beyond. I love our team; I love where we're at."
The team has a championship core, but the head of the snake is still Morant.
If anyone needs a fresh start, it's 12. He's fresh off a season where he only played nine games thanks to suspension and injury.
Morant said he's found a new sense of happiness in his time away.
"I'm probably the happiest I feel like I've been in a while," Morant said. "I'm not worried about proving [haters] wrong. Like I said right now, I'm happy, and that's my main focus. I feel like a happy Ja is a scary Ja for a lot of people. As long as I stay happy and healthy, I feel like it'll be a great season."
"I just sense a renewed sense of focus [and] joy. The last year was tough for him" said Jenkins. "Basketball was taken away from him, and that's his joy. That's his love. He has so much to give to the game."
From Morant, to the staff, to the fanbase, it's time to see what these Grizzlies can really be.
