For a decade, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol formed the backbone of the Memphis Grizzlies.
The two men developed a near-telepathic chemistry on the floor, and a tremendous friendship off of it. So when Conley flew into Gasol’s adopted city in Toronto, his first move on Saturday night was to go to his former big man’s new house in Canada.
“His daughter and son ran me to death, running around the house,” Conley said. “They were happy to see me, and I was happy to see them as well.”
It’s still a little jarring for Conley to see Gasol in a Raptors jersey after 10 years wearing the Grizzlies’ logo across their chests.
“It still seems weird seeing him in a different jersey,” Conley said. “I feel comfortable in my jersey now. But just seeing him in a Raptors jersey, about to play him, it doesn’t really compute yet.”
But there’s no doubt that Gasol found success in his new home in Toronto, helping the Raptors win the championship in June. Then, Gasol video chatted Conley right after the Raptors won the title, his face covered in celebratory champagne.
“At first, (I felt) pure happiness and then I was thinking in my head like, wow, I’m like, he’s got champagne all in his beard, and I’m sitting at home. I started feeling sorry for myself for a second,” Conley said. “It was all happiness, you know, towards him. I know how special it is for him. We were talking about that kind of thing all our careers and then to have an experience like that for himself. I was just happy for him.”
Both Conley, 32, and Gasol, 34, are off to slow starts to the season. Gasol is shooting just 30% from the field, averaging only 5.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while starting all 18 games for the Raptors so far. Conley’s been better — 36% shooting, 13.9 points and 4.8 assists per game — but hasn’t really found consistency in a Jazz uniform yet, either. So when he talked about Gasol’s early season struggles, the same points would apply to his own.
“He’s got a role here on this team that is completely different than what he’s had to deal with,” Conley said. “New guys, guys going out. ... There’s a lot of moving parts here.”
Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not, but both men had good shooting nights on Sunday. Conley led the Jazz in scoring with 20 points, including 4-6 from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Gasol’s hot shooting start from outside bent the Jazz’s defense, and he ended up with 11 points (on 4-8 FG), six assists, and five rebounds.
Follow @andyblarsen