He was to be celebrated in January 2022. But because of his legal problems linked to his participation in a large scam of the NBA health insurance system, Tony Allen had to wait more than three years before seeing his number 9 join those of his former teammates, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, on the Fedexforum ceiling!
It was therefore this night, during the meeting between Memphis and Miami, that the creator of “Grit & Grind” was finally honored by his club. And there were people to celebrate the “Role Player”: Paul Pierce, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah were thus present while Zach Randolph, Ed Davis, Beno Udrih, Vince Carter, Quincy Pondexter and Marc Gasol were also on the central stage alongside the hero of the evening.
A hero who had a lot to say, mainly about his relatives and his teammates.
“This is what it is”explains Zach Randolph. “It's a guy who always puts the team first. He will pass his teammates before him. And that's what we see. »»
The “Grit & Grind” conquered hearts in Memphis
Only Mike Conley was missing, the leader of the Wolves, however, planned to make the trip for this ceremony. Unfortunately, he did not join Memphis and therefore sent a video message.
It did not prevent Tony Allen from enjoying, joking a lot about his offensive role, when he was asked to go around and let his teammates take care of the attack. He also said that Vince Carter had tried to help him “repair” his shoot, before abandoning the magnitude of the task …
But the defender could be proud to have helped to change mentalities in Tennessee.
“Before arriving here, when the teams came here, they considered this trip as a victory. I wanted to change this image by playing hard, paying attention to details and understanding that we were going to fight and that we could bring anyone who played and collective “ he concluded that.
So, of course, the “Grit & Grind” grizzles have never won the title, and they only reached once in the conference final, but they marked the spirits and especially conquered the hearts of the inhabitants of the city, who recognized themselves in this team of blue collars, embodied by the defense of Tony Allen.
