GrizzLife

They say that time heals everything.

I think that by time, they mean two years.

I still remember the afternoon of February 1, 2008. It was my last semester of high school, and everything was going right...except the Grizzlies.

A soft, anything-but defensive-minded Grizz team was suffering through Marc Iavaroni's first season, and things were only getting worse as Pau was coming back from an injury and playing anything-but inspired basketball.

The groans and the trade demands were resounding. Memphis fans didn't really know what they wanted, but they knew they were sick of losing. If that meant giving up the franchise player for...well...just because...than so be it.

And so, the front office complied, inexplicably trading away Pau Gasol--two weeks before the trade deadline--for...nothing. And if you think St. Jude is the most chariatable operation in Memphis, I would have nominated the Grizzlies' front office that year. "The Pau Donation" was as charitable as it gets.

And don't tell me, Sean Touhy, Pete Pranica, Heisley, Wallace, etc. that it looked like a great move at the time. That you saw Marc Gasol turning into a premier NBA center. That you felt that you could bait the Wizards into trading for Javaris CrittenGUN.

Because I didn’t either, but I’m glad it worked out.

Two years, and lots of cap-space-clearing, salary-dumping, under the league minimum-spending, and losing, later, here we are. Still in Memphis, in the playoff race, and finally, finally…relevant.

Time has healed a lot of things for this franchise. Disenchantment has become enchantment, and hopelessness has become hope.

It is a story of redemption, more than anything.

And so, this past Monday, two years removed from that fateful day, Kobe made history and the Grizzlies continued the mending process. Marc Gasol outplayed Pau, and a hometown hero made the sell-out crowd (believe it) go crazy.

By Marc Gasol’s beard, it was beautiful.

Living the GrizzLife, one game at a time.