Memphis Grizzlies fans long ago took Mike Conley in as one of their own. They showed patience through the point guard's early struggles after Memphis drafted him out of Ohio State with the No. 4 pick in the 2007 NBA draft. They supported him as he took the Grizzlies' reins and slowly, steadily developed into the kind of two-way player not only well worth his five-year, $40 million contract, but capable of leading this franchise to its greatest, most sustained successes.
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It was this past spring, though, that Conley went from well-regarded rallying point — perennially overlooked and underappreciated, never seeming to sniff the All-Star squad despite playing for the team with the league's fifth-best record since 2010 — to full-fledged Memphis legend .