Last season, the Memphis Grizzlies witnessed one of their worst campaigns in recent memory.
Following two straight Southwest Division titles and four consecutive playoff excursions, Taylor Jenkins’ squad was dragged through the mud through their 82-game slate, as they wrapped with a putrid 27-55 record and on the outside looking in on the postseason for the first time since 2020.
Of course, the main factor that played into these follies was health-related, as the Grizzlies endured an obscene amount of injuries — especially to key players — that led to a disturbing number of different rotations during the year.
Because of this simply unfortunate series of events, many are confident that the team can quickly bounce back during the upcoming 2024-25 season, especially considering they’re slated to come into October with a full-strength roster headlined by the likes of Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane.
However, though the odds-makers are high on Memphis making their way back into the playoff mix in 2024-25, with FanDuel giving them the eighth-best (+2100) to win the west, the club’s members aren’t just expecting a bounce-back to take place, as Bane recently dropped a necessary truth bomb on their potential during a recent event at the Memphis Sports & Events center.
Desmond Bane drops truth bomb on Grizzlies fate in 2024-25
“I think that we can accomplish great things, but if last year taught us anything, we can’t take anything for granted,” Bane said, as transcribed by Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. “We got to come in with the right attitude and approach.”
As suggested earlier, the Grizzlies saw a truck load of players receive serious chomps from the injury bug, one of whom being Bane who was limited to a mere 42 games due, in large, to a nagging ankle ailment.
While it was certainly an unsettling reality for the fourth-year guard, especially considering he, himself, put forth arguably the best statistical season of his career, as he wrapped with averages of 23.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.0 steals while shooting 46.4 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from distance, it was also a prime example of why things cannot be taken for granted.
Because of this, Bane acknowledged at the recent event in Memphis that getting in work and building chemistry with his teammates as soon as possible is crucial, which is why he informed Cole that he and Jaren Jackson Jr. are slated to train with on another in Texas this week, while the team as a whole plans to “get together in Memphis for basketball sessions toward the end of August before preseason camp.”
