By Michael Wallace
Grind City Media
MEMPHIS – It wasn’t easy to discern the brighter glow.
At one end of the Bernal E. Smith Boys & Girls Club gymnasium were shiny ornaments hanging above the sparkling wrapping paper that covered gifts along the walls. At the other end were dozens of giggling kids, bursting with a sugar rush of energy in anticipation of the surprise guest set to enter the room.
After nearly a decade of making special appearances throughout Memphis at events like this – to lend his fame and/or finances – it’s adorable to see how Grizzlies’ point guard Mike Conley still gets nervous in these moments. He paces behind the scene and fidgets with his hands.
“These kids are going to go nuts,” Conley mentions before he emerges to distribute Jordan Brand shoes as gifts for the after-school program. “I still can’t believe it, sometimes. But it means the world to be able to help put a smile on these kids’ faces.”
The gym erupts with cheers when everyone recognizes it’s really Mike Conley walking in. Then, the place absolutely explodes with joyous shrieks when someone dressed as Santa strolls in seconds later. Conley looks over his shoulder and smiles. In Memphis, there aren’t many larger-than-life figures capable of overshadowing Grind City’s franchise player. Here’s the list: Santa, maybe. Elvis, certainly.
“Coming back from this won’t be easy,” Conley said in December, not in reference to the playful upstage by Santa but rather returning three weeks early from a back injury. “I won’t get back to being myself overnight. But I can’t wait. I want to be out there battling with my team. I’ve always been that way.”
That battle wages on for Conley and the Grizzlies as the calendar flips to 2017. The quest is now to rekindle the fire with which he started the season. Conley was well on his way to carrying out one of three bold proclamations first-year coach David Fizdale made about Memphis’ catalysts when he took the job. Fizdale vowed Marc Gasol would be the NBA’s best center, shoot threes like crazy and play at an MVP level. He assured that Zach Randolph might reluctantly accept a bench role at first, but would ultimately thrive as candidate for Sixth Man of the Year.
And the coach promised a breakthrough for Conley; ’Tis the season he’d finally get a long-deserved All-Star nod in a Western Conference perennially stacked with Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Damian Lillard among those at the guard spots.
Conley has work to do to make up for lost time and secure a spot in New Orleans for All-Star Weekend in February. The emotional boost of Conley’s earlier-than-anticipated return from three fractured vertebrae in his lower back has morphed into the sobering reality of a difficult chemistry experiment.After spending much of December in search of continuity amid a slew of injuries, the Grizzlies entered January still seeking a formula for consistency after getting Conley, Vince Carter, James Ennis and Chandler Parsons back in the fold. They’ve been a .500 team in the initial weeks of reintegration as the player affectionately referred to in Memphis as ‘The Conductor’ is pressing to maintain a rhythm. A month earlier, Conley was off to the most productive start of his 10 seasons, averaging career highs in points, rebounds, three-point shooting, free-throw percentage, usage rate and player efficiency rating.
Conley doesn’t shy away from justifying the five-year, $153 million contract he signed in free agency last July to remain in Memphis. His play spoke volumes as well. He wants that groove again.
“If he’s not an All-Star, that will be a crime,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Conley during Thanksgiving week. “He’s playing at an extremely high level, and he’s doing it in all of those close games, when it matters most.”
It would also be criminal should the injury bug rob Conley of any consideration. He missed 11 of Memphis’ first 34 games; nine from the back injury, one with a toe injury and another for a rest day. Had the initial six-week recovery prognosis held true after the back injury, Conley might just now be returning to the lineup. Instead, he’s been in action for weeks because hardly anything holds him down.
If there’s a category for toughness, the Grizz with the easy grin and relentless grind would lead the league in it. Fizdale was an assistant in Miami when he watched Conley fracture his orbital bone midway through a first-round playoff series against Portland two years ago. Conley was back as a masked man by Game 2 of the second-round series against Golden State. Still, Fizdale couldn’t get a full appreciation for how rugged and durable Conley is in mind and body until he saw his floor general pushing the training staff to clear him for workouts just days after he fractured his back in a Nov. 28 loss to Charlotte.
“I knew he was tough, but I didn’t know he was THAT tough,” Fizdale said. “A broken back? He was back a month early, and doing it without painkillers. So that’s as tough as it gets right there.”
The roughest aspect of Conley returning to get the Grizzlies rolling into the All-Star break isn’t the workload on the court. It’s convincing his parents and wife he’s physically fine handling the burden. Conley admitted two years ago he flat-out defied his mother’s wishes and came back to play in that series against the Warriors. This time around, there was initial resistance, but more communication and understanding between Conley and his closest loved ones. That’s because this time around, Conley can sympathize with the ultra-protective nature of a parent now that he has an infant son, Myles.
Conley still reflects on all that tugged on him when he returned for a Dec. 16 game against Sacramento and former coach Dave Joerger. It was the start of a three-game losing streak as Conley struggled.
“The first game, I was more worried about them than I was the game,” Conley said of his family’s uneasiness as they watched. “A lot of people, especially my parents, felt, ‘You shouldn’t be coming back right now. I’m worried about your back. You have to think long term.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, what if they’re right?’ That kind of stuff was putting doubt in my head. So I was kind of straddling that line the first few games. Then, after I got hit a few times and fell down, I’m like, ‘You know what, I’m good. The doctors told me I’m good. There’s no risk of further injury. I believe in it. So let’s go forward.’”
The most authentic forward progress required Conley to face the pain head on. Conley’s decision to bypass painkillers stemmed, in part, from his recovery two years ago after facial surgery. The subsequent medication made him woozy and ill for several days. Back then, he took it because it was mandated. Surgery wasn’t required for the back fractures, but pain medication was recommended.
Conley’s response: Thanks, but no thanks.
Instead, there are extensive massages, stretching and steady rotations of heat, ice and stim therapy.
“I didn’t want to get stuck numbing my body with pain medicine and not really knowing where I’m at physically,” Conley said. “Knowing that it was a non-weight-bearing injury and it would be a pain tolerance situation, I wanted to feel everything. So I was just like, ‘If I can sleep fine and find a way to sleep without it, I’m going to do it and try to make sure I know every day how my body is progressing.”
In essence, it’s mind over matter.
Vibe over vertebrae.
“I like to feel it,” Conley continued. “I like to know when it’s subsiding. I like to know I’m getting better and not only someone telling me I’m getting better. If I can feel improvement without taking medication, then mentally, I can get to another state positively. I feel like I can do it. The more physical the games get, the more comfortable I get.”
Conley then laughs at the thought of what he just said. Suddenly, he understands why his mother thinks he’s crazy. Teammates see him as more committed and determined than ever to lead the Grizzlies holistically. Entering January, Conley was averaging 18 points, nearly six assists and four rebounds. His impact compares favorably to reigning Western Conference All-Stars.
Conley this season is shooting threes better than Curry. He’s outperformed Paul in their first two head-to-head matchups. He’s led his team to more victories than Lillard. And although Westbrook and Harden put up insane, video game numbers, Conley plays the position more efficiently in many areas.
Coaches responsible for filling out All-Star reserve ballots have noticed.
“He’s good at everything,” Rockets’ coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He’s good defensively. He gets his hands on all the balls. He’s one of the better pick-and-roll guys. He can shoot threes. He’s got a lot of weapons. He’s a great teammate, great in the locker room, great on and off the court. There’s probably no weaknesses in his game anywhere.” Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr suggested Conley “was a lock” to make his first All-Star game before the back injury. He’d also like to see Conley reestablish a solid case.
“He’s just been one of those guys who is a little under the radar, maybe because he’s playing in Memphis, maybe because it’s the West and you have so many stars,” Kerr said. “To me, he’s one of the best in the league, and he’s been the last few years. The way he was playing before he got hurt was by far the best he’s played … and what he’s brought to their team.”
Internally, Conley’s emergence this season is just as obvious. Fizdale has pressed Conley to be a more vocal leader. There have been numerous times when Fizdale has called a timeout and then stepped back unexpectedly so Conley would take command of the huddle.
“I’ve thrown him into different weird positions to make him speak up,” Fizdale said. “He’s embraced it. All the guys respect him. When he says something, everyone listens.”
Veteran guard Tony Allen is stunned at times by the bark the mild-mannered Conley has developed.
“At first, he didn’t used to say nothing,” said Allen, who arrived in Memphis before Conley’s fourth season. “Each year that goes by, he’s jumping up and getting on guys more.
He’s doing that far more with me now, too, whenever I’m out of whack. He’s like, ‘Hey, T.A., that wasn’t a good play, and you know it. I need you to get it back on defense and lock in.’ Or he’s like, ‘Hey, that play is over with, man, so why are you still trippin’?’ He comes at you in a nice manner, but you know he means business.”
Few in the entire organization have been around Conley longer than Gasol, who came a year after Conley was drafted fourth overall in 2007. They’ve grown as Grizzlies, from teenagers to fathers to franchise cornerstones on long-term, max contracts now bonded by championship ambitions.
It’s not in Gasol’s nature to campaign for anything or anyone. But the exception is Conley, whom Gasol proudly watched earlier this season become only the eighth player in NBA history to be a franchise’s career leader in points, assists and steals.
“We’re a lot alike; we only want to win,” Gasol said. “You can have all that other stuff, the recognition. But ask anyone how important he is to winning, and they’ll tell you. It’s not about huge numbers. It’s about how many things you do night-in, night-out that contribute to winning. Mike Conley contributes to winning.”
After all these years, Conley comfortably and confidently admits he wants it; even deserves it. He was fine with performing in the shadows, stamped with the underrated tag in the past. He’s also seen Allen garner All-NBA accolades. He’s seen Gasol named Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Star starter. Each has shared in the other’s accolades – and always will.
It’s only natural for Conley to wonder when his time will come.
“I always kind of sat in the back and have just been so happy for everybody else along this team’s journey,” Conley said. “We’ve changed over the years, but I’ve got to see my closest friends enjoy that success, whatever it may be. But eventually, I’m like, ‘Dang, at some point, man, when am I going to get one? I’ve got to join the group a little bit at some point.’ It would mean the world to me if I can get that opportunity because a big part of me feels like it’s overdue.”
Conley then nodded and flashed his easy smile that demanded agreement.
There was a familiar glow to it.
Perhaps almost as bright as the ones he left on those kids’ faces back at the Boys & Girls Club.
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