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Jul
Team Profile
Memphis Grizzlies: Five things you need to know
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Highlights
From Grit and Grind to a bottom-out rebuild, the Grizzlies begin again after the Ja Morant era.
- Jock Landale started 25 games for Memphis in 2025-26 before the deadline teardown
- The Grit and Grind era carried Memphis to the 2013 Western Conference Finals
- A 25-57 collapse in 2025-26 and the Ja Morant trade have triggered a youth rebuild
The Memphis Grizzlies have always been the NBA's underdogs, a franchise that built an identity on toughness rather than glamour. But the team that begins the 2026-27 season looks nothing like the one that made Memphis a fixture in the Western Conference playoffs.
After a 25-57 collapse in 2025-26 and an off-season teardown that shipped out Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr and Santi Aldama, the Grizzlies have torn the roster back to the studs. Grit and Grind gave way to a No3 draft pick and a locker room full of young players.
This is a franchise that has reinvented itself before, from its Vancouver beginnings to Pau Gasol's arrival to the Grit and Grind era and Morant's electric rise. Here are five things you need to know about the Memphis Grizzlies.
Australians who have played for the Memphis Grizzlies
The most recent Australian link is Jock Landale. The Boomers centre and Olympic bronze medallist signed with Memphis in July 2025 and earned a career-best role, starting 25 of his 45 games before the Grizzlies traded him to the Utah Jazz in the February 2026 deadline deal for Jaren Jackson Jr. Landale later finished the season with Atlanta.
Before him, Jack White gave Aussie fans a reason to watch. The Traralgon product, fresh off a 2023 championship with the Denver Nuggets, appeared in four games for Memphis on a 10-day deal in April 2024.
Neither remains on the roster, but both are part of the growing pipeline of Australians earning NBA minutes, and Memphis has now become another stop on that map.
2026-27 team snapshot
The Grizzlies enter 2026-27 in a full rebuild. The stars of the previous era are gone: Morant was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, with Jerami Grant headlining the return, Jackson Jr went to Utah, and Aldama was moved to Dallas.
In their place is a young core. Jaylen Wells, who started 69 games as a rookie, and centre Zach Edey are the building blocks who stayed, joined by prospects such as Cedric Coward and GG Jackson II. The headline addition is Cameron Boozer, taken third in the 2026 draft, with Memphis also adding NBL Next Star Karim Lopez. Tuomas Iisalo led the team through 2025-26.
Why the Grizzlies matter
Every NBA franchise leans on an identity. The Boston Celtics have their banners. The Los Angeles Lakers have their stars. The San Antonio Spurs have their discipline. The Grizzlies have their grit.
No team has turned a lack of glamour into a brand quite like Memphis. For more than a decade the Grizzlies punched above their weight, dragging opponents into the mud and winning on defence and effort. That identity is why a small-market team without a title still commands respect.
The Vancouver years: an expansion struggle
The Grizzlies were born in Vancouver in 1995 as an NBA expansion team, and the early years were bleak. Losses piled up, stars were hard to attract, and the franchise never found its feet in Canada. In 2001 the team relocated to Memphis, becoming the city's first and still only major professional sports franchise.
The Pau Gasol era: Memphis finds its feet
The move coincided with the arrival of Pau Gasol, the Spanish big man who won Rookie of the Year in 2002 and gave Memphis its first taste of relevance. Under Gasol the Grizzlies reached the playoffs in 2004, 2005 and 2006, the first postseason appearances in franchise history. They were swept each time, but the foundation was laid.
Grit and Grind made Memphis unforgettable
The defining era arrived at the turn of the decade. Built around Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Tony Allen, the Grizzlies became the NBA's toughest out. Allen's mantra, "all heart, grit, grind", gave the era its name and the city its identity.
Memphis stunned the top-seeded Spurs in the 2011 playoffs and, in 2013, reached the Western Conference Finals for the only time in club history. Home playoff nights at FedExForum, a sea of yellow Growl Towels, became one of the best atmospheres in the league. They rarely had the most talent, but they were never easy to beat.
The Ja Morant era: lightning in Memphis
The next reinvention came through the draft. Ja Morant, taken second in 2019, won Rookie of the Year in 2020 and turned the Grizzlies into must-watch basketball. In 2021-22 he led Memphis to 56 wins and the second seed in the West, and his 52-point game that season set the franchise single-game scoring record.
But the era unravelled. Off-court issues and injuries cost Morant time, and after he was shut down with an elbow injury just 20 games into 2025-26, the wheels came off. A 25-57 season followed, and the franchise chose to start again.
The greatest Grizzlies of all time
Every era produced a signature figure. Pau Gasol put Memphis on the map. Zach Randolph gave it a heartbeat. Marc Gasol became its most complete star. Mike Conley was its steady hand. Tony Allen was its soul. And Ja Morant, for a few electric seasons, made it appointment viewing.
Five Fast Facts
- The Grizzlies are the only major professional sports team in Memphis.
- The franchise began as a Vancouver expansion team in 1995 before relocating in 2001.
- Mascot Grizz was named NBA Mascot of the Year in 2011.
- Ja Morant's 52-point game in 2022 is the franchise single-game scoring record.
- The Growl Towel became a home-playoff staple during the Grit and Grind run.
Historical Timeline
- 1995: The Grizzlies enter the NBA as a Vancouver expansion team.
- 2001: The franchise relocates to Memphis.
- 2002: Pau Gasol wins Rookie of the Year.
- 2004: Memphis reaches the playoffs for the first time.
- 2011: The eighth-seeded Grizzlies stun the top-seeded Spurs.
- 2013: Memphis reaches its only Western Conference Finals.
- 2019: Ja Morant is drafted second overall.
- 2022: Morant leads Memphis to 56 wins and the No2 seed.
- 2025: The franchise parts ways with coach Taylor Jenkins.
- 2026: A 25-57 season ends with Morant traded and Cameron Boozer drafted third.
Looking ahead
The Grizzlies have bottomed out before, and each time they have rebuilt around a clear identity. This reinvention starts with Cameron Boozer, Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey, a young core with room to grow and a front office willing to be patient.
There is no Australian on the roster today, but the pipeline that brought Jock Landale and Jack White through Memphis keeps widening, and the next Aussie link may not be far away. For a franchise built on grit, starting over is familiar ground.
