When Memphis Grizzlies Coach David Fizdale was growing up in the 1980s in South Los Angeles, his single mother was determined to not allow the area’s violence and volatility direct her son’s future.
Helen Hamilton also did not shield him from the grit it took to endure the circumstances, like escaping crossfire during a game of marbles, and the grind it took to overcome the neighborhood’s deadly adversities.
Fizdale landed his first NBA head coaching job in May after eight seasons on the bench in Miami, including two as associate head coach. He brings the Heat’s championship habits to Memphis but he is more South Central than South Beach.
The Fremont High graduate’s roots made him appreciate and embrace the Grizzlies’ embedded “Grit and Grind” culture. It is the essence of why the Grizzlies remain a team nobody wants to face now or in late April.
“They had a lot of good things going on before I got there,” Fizdale, 42, said. “They had a toughness that was already built — a resiliency, a grit, a defensive mind-set. I wanted to sustain those things and bring another level of accountability to view ourselves as champions.
“I totally connected to the city and mentality of the team in a way that maybe I wouldn’t if I wasn’t from South Central in a toughness standpoint.”
Memphis’ unique style, and now with Fizdale at the helm, has it in the hunt for a Western Conference top-four seed after enduring an injury-riddled 2015-16. Many around the league thought the Grizzlies’ playoff run was over.
Instead, point guard Mike Conley re-signed for the largest contract in NBA history (five years, $153 million), veteran power forward Zach Randolph embraced a bench role and Fizdale added a bit of pace and space to grit and grind.
The Grizzlies remain in the NBA’s top five for defensive rating and bottom five for pace of play.
Fizdale’s plan was to initiate their offense sooner and take more three-pointers (nearly eight more per game than last season). Both of which serve Conley well, as he continues his masterful court control in a career-best season.
Coming off foot surgery, center Marc Gasol made his third All-Star team with elite defense, a new three-point weapon and career-high averages for points and assists. He has made more three-pointers this season than he had attempted in his first eight seasons combined.
Memphis is on its way to a seventh consecutive playoff appearance. Only Atlanta (nine) and San Antonio (19) have longer active postseason runs. “It’s not the most prettiest, but we’re going to hang our hat on defense,” Randolph said.
The Grizzlies remain relevant, despite being a small-market oversight and having a franchise history with no playoff wins until 2011. The culture took root under Lionel Hollins, who led them to the conference finals in 2013. Two years ago under David Joerger, Memphis led a second-round playoff series with Golden State, 2-1, before falling.
A “core four” of Conley, Randolph, Gasol and Tony Allen remains to carry on “Grit and Grind,” which became a state of mind as much as a style of play last season when Matt Barnes played more minutes than any Grizzly. Health issues continued this season, but Memphis went 7-2 while Conley was out for a back injury.
Instead of regressing, the franchise is holding out for upside even though Randolph and Allen are both 35 and will be free agents in July. The Grizzlies made their biggest free- agent splash ever in the off-season with a four-year, $94 million deal for Chandler Parsons, who has not approached his form because of rehabilitation and playing time restrictions lingering from a second right knee surgery.
Parsons sat out three of the final six games in January and plays no more than 22 minutes when he is cleared. Entering the weekend, he was shooting 35% from the field after being a 47% career shooter.
“Once I’m healthy, our team is going to even take a bigger step,” Parsons said. “I hated to play against them [the Grizzlies]. They were always so physical and tough. They do all the little things, like screening, taking charges, getting on the floor.”
Meanwhile, Randolph — an ideal franchise fit for the past eight seasons — now symbolizes an unselfish star system with the way he has accepted a sixth-man role and thrived in it. “It’s about team,” he said. “It’s bigger than me.”
Memphis still might move slow but it moves ahead. Fizdale grew up an underdog off 56th and Hoover streets but he — and his mother — now have NBA championship rings. He wants Memphis to shed its underdog mentality too. Two wins this season over Golden State backs that notion.
“I want to put ourselves in a category to be more,” Fizdale said. “Go out and prove you shouldn’t be overlooked.
“We haven’t even scratched the surface. Now that we’re getting pieces back and Chandler is getting healthier, we have a chance to go up a few levels.”
sports@latimes.com
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