MINNEAPOLIS — Mike Conley and Marc Gasol have spent the last nine years in Memphis, their bond as strong as that of any NBA teammates. It is the foundation of the Grizzlies' identity.
It's a friendship built on trust, respect and a whole lot of ribbing. They go at each other daily, but even Conley knows they have nothing on two coaches who arrived in Memphis last summer.
David Fizdale and J.B. Bickerstaff have known each other for two decades and are working on the same NBA staff for the first time. They operate with a razor-tongued familiarity that has disarmed a veteran team initially wary of the new faces.