No team has better embodied America’s obsession with glitz than the Miami Heat.
It's fitting, then, that the grit-and-grind Memphis Grizzlies seem destined to collide with the Heat in the NBA Finals. Especially now that the Grizz, thanks to Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, took a 3-1 series lead over the West’s best Oklahoma City Thunder.
Here's Randolph on his teammate, in what has to be the quote of the playoffs:
"Marc's from Memphis man," Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph said. "Marc's tough. Marc played [high school and AAU ball] with all the guys from the ghetto, from south Memphis to north Memphis. And now he's been around me."
Like their teams, the music scenes in Miami and Memphis could not be more different. Miami totes Ultra Fest. Memphis boasts Hustle & Flow.
The Grizz has since adapted that film’s grimiest track, "Whoop That Trick," as its official team anthem. Per SI:
"It started very mildly during Game 4 vs LAC as a blend of ‘whoop that trick’ and ‘whoop that clip’ after some signs with that slogan popped up early in the series," he says. "The first wide-spread chant, though, was when Grizz dropped the ‘Finish Them!’ banner with about 4 minutes left in Game 6. It was one of my proudest Memphis sports moments, honestly. It said a lot about our civic spirit that you had such a diverse group including big money upper class Memphians chanting it."
I'm a sucker for well-made hype-up videos. The Grizz have the finest I’ve ever seen. Chills.