![]() ![]() However, the Grizzlies were swept out in the first round again, this time by the Phoenix Suns. The Grizzlies' record improved and the team advanced to the post-season for the second consecutive season. At the time of his resignation, the Grizzlies had a losing record but West hired TNT analyst and former coach Mike Fratello to replace Brown. In the playoffs, they faced the San Antonio Spurs, who swept them out of the playoffs in four games.īrown stepped down as head coach during the 2004–05 season. They also won a then-record 50 games under Gasol and Williams. Even considering the Pistons themselves used the pick on Darko Miličić, widely considered one of that year's biggest draft busts, the Grizzlies had indirectly performed one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history.īrown won the NBA Coach of the Year Award during the next season when the Grizzlies made the NBA playoffs for the first time in team history in 2004 as the sixth seed in the Western Conference in a drastic change from being perennially one of the worst teams in the NBA. Due to the structure of the lottery, the Grizzlies ended up losing the second overall pick, one which likely could have changed their future course by selecting any of the aforementioned players, for a player who didn't even play a full season for the team, playing only 47 games for the team before being released. Their first round pick in the 2003 NBA draft, in which they could have had their choice of future All-Stars Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, or Dwyane Wade, had been traded to the Detroit Pistons in 1997 for Otis Thorpe. During the 2002–03 season, Hubie Brown was hired to coach the Grizzlies.īefore the team could improve, though, one final mistake from the Vancouver era happened to bite them. After West's arrival the team was changed a great deal from Knight's team, with the removal of Sidney Lowe as head coach after 0–8 start to the season and a great deal of player movement, with players such as Mike Miller and James Posey becoming vital to the team's success. After Knight's departure and the season, the team hired former Los Angeles Laker and Hall of Famer Jerry West as general manager in 2002, who later received the 2003–04 NBA Executive of the Year Award. ![]() However, despite the strong draft class, general manager Billy Knight was let go. After the Grizzlies' first season in Memphis, Gasol won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. ![]() They also acquired Jason Williams from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Mike Bibby that same year. Forward Shane Battier was selected with the sixth pick in the same draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. In the 2001 NBA draft, the Atlanta Hawks chose Pau Gasol as the third overall pick, trading him to the Grizzlies. The city of Memphis was previously represented by the Memphis Sounds of the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1970 to 1975. In their first three seasons in Memphis, the Grizzlies played their home games at the Pyramid Arena. Memphis became the easternmost city in the Western Conference. The original Memphis Grizzlies franchise played in the World Football League from 1974 to 1975. This is, primarily, because of the city’s proud history with a previous team, also named Memphis Grizzlies. However, the community strongly supported the existing name. After moving to Memphis, the team explored the possibility of changing “Grizzlies” to another name that better reflected the Memphis area. The team relocated following the 2000–01 season and were renamed the Memphis Grizzlies. The Vancouver Grizzlies applied to the NBA to relocate to Memphis, Tennessee on March 26, 2001, which was granted on July 3 leaving the Toronto Raptors as the only Canadian basketball team in the NBA. Main article: Vancouver Grizzlies relocation to Memphis
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