Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley was originally selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the fourth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
He had played his entire career with the Grizzlies until he was traded to the Utah Jazz this offseason, as Memphis focused on building around a younger core including Jaren Jackson Jr. and rookie Ja Morant.
Conley, 31, is a three-time winner of the NBA Sportsmanship Award and he took home the honor this summer as well. He also won Teammate of the Year in 2019, which was presented to him at the NBA Awards show in June.
The all-time leading scorer for the Grizzlies recently caught up with our own Alex Kennedy and touched on his upcoming return to play Memphis (via HoopsHype):
“Man, whenever that day comes, I honestly don’t know how I’ll feel,” Conley said. “I don’t even know where the visiting locker room is! I’ve really never been over there! I’ll have a lot of emotions, I’m sure. I’m not a guy who shows a lot of emotion on the court – good or bad – but it’ll probably be one of the tougher moments of my career.”
Utah is reportedly scheduled to face Memphis on November 15 at the FedEx Forum.
Conley will be joined in the backcourt by guard Donovan Mitchell with a frontcourt highlighted by some combination of Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, Ed Davis and back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert. He
The Grizzlies will have Morant and Jackson as well as Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson, Jonas Valanciunas as well as Grayson Allen (who the organization received in the trade package for Conley) and 2019 NBA Summer League MVP Brandon Clarke.
Conley added that the experience he had in Memphis was one that was very integral to the person he is today.
