Hoops Habit
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Every single NBA team’s Mount Rushmore of stars

By Maxwell Ogden

Apr 2, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (3) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) look on in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (3) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) look on in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Memphis Grizzlies Mount Rushmore, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol
Mike Conley and Marc Gasol – Memphis Grizzlies Mount Rushmore (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

The Mount Rushmore of the Memphis Grizzlies

  • Mike Conley
  • Marc Gasol
  • Pau Gasol
  • Zach Randolph

The Mount Rushmore of Memphis Grizzlies begins with two brothers. The first to make the list is Pau Gasol, who began his NBA career in Memphis and led the team to its first three postseason appearances—after the organization missed the playoffs in each of its first eight seasons.

Gasol would set a since broken record of 8,966 points as a member of the Grizzlies, also winning Rookie of the Year and making the All-Star Game.

Second on the list is Marc Gasol, who helped take Memphis to another level entirely. As the anchor of an elite defensive team, Gasol led the Grizzlies to seven consecutive postseason appearances and the three winningest seasons in franchise history.

Gasol won Defensive Player of the Year in 2012-13 and, facing criticism after defeating LeBron James for the award, led Memphis to the Western Conference Finals.

Playing alongside Gasol during that string of success was bully-ball power forward Zach Randolph. The Gasol brothers received the accolades, but Z-Bo has helped resurrect the Grizzlies as a franchise.

He was the steadying force who may not have jumped over many phone books, but set the tone for Memphis’ grind-it-out mentality.

Shareed Abur-Rahim was a big-time scorer and Tony Allen was an all-time defender, but the last spot goes to Mike Conley. Conley ran the show during Memphis’ most successful era and became the near-consensus choice for being the best player to not make an All-Star Game in the 2010s.

Memphis’ history is relatively brief, but the four players on the team’s Mount Rushmore could be there for many years to come—unless Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. say otherwise.

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