In a recent episode of the popular NBA podcast, βThe shift“One of the show’s hosts accused the Oklahoma City Thunder of copying some of the Memphis Grizzlies’ trends.
Chris Vernona contributor to Grind City Media and one of two media members on the show, noted in the most recent episode that Memphis might be anticipating its games with OKC a little more than some fans might expect.
“I think Oklahoma City is the one the Grizzlies are going to go after this year because they feel like Oklahoma City literally robbed them of all their potential,” Vernon said. “They do interviews with the whole team after games and stuff.”
According to Vernon, Yes Morant and the Grizzlies began participating in post-game interviews as a group during their two consecutive seasons of reaching 50-plus wins.
these guys π pic.twitter.com/Xh52wVfEg0
β Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) October 28, 2022
In 2021-22, Memphis took a big step forward, winning 56 games in the regular season after only winning 38 the previous year. The Grizzlies followed up their breakout campaign with another solid season that saw the team win 51 games in 2022-23.
As seen in the video above, Memphis team members have been meeting for group interviews since 2022.
In 2023-24, when Oklahoma City began to establish itself as one of the NBA’s best teams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and others also began participating in group interviews.
As the season progressed, more and more OKC players began to stand by during post-game interviews, adding their own twist by barking into the microphone at the end of the session.
βWe all have our role in the team. We all have a goal that we want to achieve. All we can do is make it happen and trust in our work. Thatβs what we did and we did it!β – SGA βοΈ#Thunder on top | @okcthunder | @BallySports πΊ pic.twitter.com/5freAeF5rG
β Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) May 14, 2024
Whether or not the Thunder carry over their postgame interview tactics from Memphis, both teams are poised to be competitive in the Western Conference this year and will battle for a playoff spot throughout the season.
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