Last season's Memphis Grizzlies announced their arrival by earning the 2nd seed in the Western Conference and with the fifth-youngest roster in the NBA and proven success building through the draft and player development, there's no reason to believe their upward trajectory should not continue into this season. To discuss how this up-and-coming team can continue to bolster their franchise's history, we've brought on special guest, Molly Morrison, formerly of MadeInMemphis1, the most followed Grizzlies' fan account in Memphis. She takes us through the growth that led to Ja Morant winning the Most Improved Player Award and Zach Kleiman winning Executive of the Year and where the team can go from here.

4:06-4:55: “Ja Morant obviously is just the pivotal reason as to why you’re sitting here saying, ‘They’re not even an up-and-coming team. They’re kind of already there.’ So much of that does have to do with Ja's ability to attack the basket, along of course with his other skill sets… and just all the areas he's willing and working to improve in. … Just some of the things he does, I truly believe that I am excited to watch every single Grizzlies game in the regular season, which is not something I could always say because there will be some sort of highlight that just doesn't look like something a natural person would do.”
11:24-11:57: “They’ve been shooting better on a higher volume, which is extremely hard to do… and the whole team has done that. That really goes back to what I mentioned earlier with coach Taylor Jenkins realizing, ‘OK, guys. Our defense is going to struggle. … We need to stop shooting as many midrange shots. We need to either attack the basket or shoot from deep.’ And I think you’ve really seen that pay off with the Grizzlies.”
28:05-31:06: “Honestly, I think the best thing [GM Zach] Kleiman has done is not overthink it. … I feel like just his consistency to keep on drafting these guys that end up being able to produce at the NBA level so quickly is just really impressive. … The draft wasn't an exciting time for a very long time. … To shift the narrative into, we don't have to have a top 10 pick to get a really exciting guy. It's normal to be able to find a steal late first round or second round. It's a new world for Grizzlies fans, and I give him a ton of credit.”
36:11-36:53: “Taylor Jenkins has been a huge part of this team's success. I really think you mentioning him and Ja coming in at the same time, it's such an interesting way to look at it because these two guys have immense, immense respect for each other. … Above all else… I think a really underrated thing with coaches is having that relationship between the star piece… and the coach because you've seen that go wrong time and time when that respect isn't there.”
Molly's column about how she grew her MadeinMemphis1 anonymous account into the most-followed fan account in Memphis, and why she stepped away.
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