Tony Allen’s number to be retired…

[Roy H.]

… by Memphis:

Two pillars of the famed Grizzlies ‘Core Four’ will become the first players in franchise history to have their numbers retired. Memphis announced that they will raise Zach Randolph’s No. 50 jersey and Tony Allen’s No. 9 jersey into the rafters this season in separate ceremonies. – via Clayton Collier @ LocalMemphis.com

Randolph will be honored Saturday, Dec. 11 vs. the Houston Rockets. Tony Allen will be celebrated on Friday, Jan. 28 vs. the Utah Jazz, with former teammate Mike Conley in the building. The Grizzlies have already announced their intention to retire all four Core Four jerseys: Randolph, Allen, Conley, and Marc Gasol. The latter two are still actively playing in the NBA.

[gouki88]

I'm glad, I loved those Memphis teams. Gritty, hard-nosed ball, and TA was a central figure in that culture

[mr. dee]

Well deserved. Grizz may not have won any ship with them but they entirely changed their culture and were legit contenders for years. Marc, Z-bo and Conley should follow suit.

[Kernewek]

Well deserved. Grizz may not have won any ship with them but they entirely changed their culture and were legit contenders for years. Marc, Z-bo and Conley should follow suit.

Yeah, Z-Bo is also getting his number retired soon. Gasol & Conley will get theirs after they are officially done playing. And all well deserved - Memphis doesn't have any retired as of yet and it's impossible to overstate the impact that Grit & Grind had on the franchise.


Now, having said all that, imagine telling someone in 2008 that Zach Randolph would get his number retired for any team.

[Redz]

I mean, I'm happy for him and all, but those are kinda lame number retirees.  The Ceiltics definitely have their fair share of questionable retired numbers, but at least those guys were part of championship teams, not just a franchise's first sustained run of respectability. 

But...not my franchise.  Let the Grizz have some fun I guess.

[bogg]

I mean, I'm happy for him and all, but those are kinda lame number retirees.  The Ceiltics definitely have their fair share of questionable retired numbers, but at least those guys were part of championship teams, not just a franchise's first sustained run of respectability. 

But...not my franchise.  Let the Grizz have some fun I guess.

This is all off memory, but my recollection is that the franchise was struggling pretty badly prior to that group coming together, enough that you would sometimes hear them brought to up in relocation discussions. There's an argument to be made that that four literally saved the franchise in Memphis.

[gift]

Congrats Tony!

[Roy H.]

I mean, I'm happy for him and all, but those are kinda lame number retirees.  The Ceiltics definitely have their fair share of questionable retired numbers, but at least those guys were part of championship teams, not just a franchise's first sustained run of respectability. 

But...not my franchise.  Let the Grizz have some fun I guess.

I think they're trying to build a culture.  You're right, a seven year run for Tony where they didn't advance beyond the conference finals seems a bit weak.  But, the team can point up to the rafters and tell current team members that that's how you make your mark:  grit and grind.

Plus, they'll have 97 numbers left after they retire these four. 

When does Pau get his number up there?

[Moranis]

Randolph I can understand, but Allen, that is just silly.  This is how you end up with 50 numbers being retired, when you put people up there that don't deserve it.  Tony Allen is currently 6th in games played with a meager 462, 10th in minutes (11,588), is 10th in both made FG's and FGA's (along with 8th in 2pt and 2pta), and 9th in WS (but just 26.3), but isn't on a single leaderboard for totals or per game numbers in any of the 5 statistical categories, except for 2nd in steals.  That just shouldn't get you into the rafters.  I'm not even sure Randolph deserves it, but his inclusion is far more defensible as he has played a lot more games and is much higher up the overall leaderboards for the franchise.

[Neurotic Guy]

Retiring numbers has always seemed unnecessary to me.  I don't really care about the Celtics numbers and the Memphis numbers of course I care even less about.  I suppose when teams run out of numbers they'll figure something out to solve that issue.   

Throw an appreciation night for a beloved player, include him in the history of the team if you've got some form of "museum", maybe put their name on an honor roll...  Not sure why we need this symbol of immortality -- no one shall wear this number again.  Not that important IMO.   

[Who]

Retiring numbers has always seemed unnecessary to me.  I don't really care about the Celtics numbers and the Memphis numbers of course I care even less about.  I suppose when teams run out of numbers they'll figure something out to solve that issue.   

Throw an appreciation night for a beloved player, include him in the history of the team if you've got some form of "museum", maybe put their name on an honor roll...  Not sure why we need this symbol of immortality -- no one shall wear this number again.  Not that important IMO.

Yeah, I like how Phoenix does it. They put the number in the rafters -- Circle of the Suns or something like that -- but they do not actually retire it.

I would've loved to have seen Bill Russell's #6 passed down to Dave Cowens to Robert Parish to Kevin Garnett. The lineage. The history of wearing this number. How special it is. I like that about European soccer and the way they have the connection to their history / numbers / meaning. It is something deeper. I prefer that to retiring a jersey.

[18isGREATERthan72]

I might be in the minority here, but I think Tony Allen is very deserving of getting his number retired.

He might be the greatest one on one perimeter defender of all time.  If you don't think he is, you certainly would consider him in the discussion.  If we were talking about one of the all time greats in scoring, we wouldn't hesitate to put their number in the rafters, regardless of championships.

[gouki88]

Retiring numbers has always seemed unnecessary to me.  I don't really care about the Celtics numbers and the Memphis numbers of course I care even less about.  I suppose when teams run out of numbers they'll figure something out to solve that issue.   

Throw an appreciation night for a beloved player, include him in the history of the team if you've got some form of "museum", maybe put their name on an honor roll...  Not sure why we need this symbol of immortality -- no one shall wear this number again.  Not that important IMO.

Yeah, I like how Phoenix does it. They put the number in the rafters -- Circle of the Suns or something like that -- but they do not actually retire it.

I would've loved to have seen Bill Russell's #6 passed down to Dave Cowens to Robert Parish to Kevin Garnett. The lineage. The history of wearing this number. How special it is. I like that about European soccer and the way they have the connection to their history / numbers / meaning. It is something deeper. I prefer that to retiring a jersey.

That's what we do in Australian Rules Football.

At my club, Collingwood, since Peter Daicos (one of our most legendary players) retired, we've reserved his number, #35, for the highest picked first year player each year. Each year it gets moved on to the next young player. That is going to end next season as it will be his son, Nick Daicos, who will be donning #35 and presumably playing out his career in it.

NBA doesn't have that kind of romance, sadly.

[BitterJim]

I think some people are looking at Allen's impact/resume and comparing it to what it would take to get retired here, but I don't think that's really fair. This is a franchise that's been around for, what, 25 seasons? He only played there for 7 seasons, but that was 1/3rd of all Grizzlies seasons when he left. And he was never part of them winning a championship (or even making the finals) but neither has any other Grizzlies player.

So, yeah, it's kind of a lame jersey retirement, but if we're being honest... doesn't it kind of fit the franchise? Maybe in 20 or 50 years they look back and have had so much success that this was a clear mistake, but I doubt it. The Grindfather will probably still be one of their most important former players just from the culture he helped foster.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Love it, was always a big fan of Tony... Danny should've paid him. He wasn't asking for much.