Throughout the past few seasons, ‘Yonkers’ by Tyler The Creator has been in heavy rotation on FedEx Forum’s late-game playlist. It’s a fitting selection; the instrumental’s maddening ratchet-clockwork beat is almost perfectly metaphoric of Mike Conley’s game.
The ‘Yonkers’ beat is boring but brilliant, subtle yet captivating, both chill and extremely intense at once. Watching Conley conduct Memphis’ grind while it monotonously cranks out over the PA is almost poetic.
Conley, like ‘Yonkers’ , achieves greatness without the frills. He plays one of the NBA’s most vanilla, disciplined games, but his brutal effectiveness on both sides of the ball is unquestioned.