MEMPHIS \u2014 The game on Friday night at FedEx Forum was secondary. <\/p>\n
Rather, the crowd in Memphis was there to see a player they\u2019d shown up for hundreds of times, that they\u2019d given their heart to back in 2018 when the Grizzlies drafted him. <\/p>\n
They knew that Jaren Jackson Jr. wouldn\u2019t be playing in the game for the Utah Jazz, but they wanted to be there for him the way he\u2019d shown up for Memphis so many times over the years.<\/p>\n
During the break between the first and second quarters, the Grizzlies played a tribute video that showcased Jackson\u2019s career in Memphis \u2014 the accolades, the big shots, the dunks and blocks that made him an All-Star, and the joy he brought to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was crazy,\u201d Jackson told the Deseret News.\u201cMy mind kind of went blank and then just remembering everything that happened and they gave a good little recap of it all and just how I was feeling when I was here. A ton of emotions, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The video lasted the entirety of the break between quarters, and even as buzzer sounded to remind players they needed to be back on the court to resume play, the fans and the players on both the Grizzlies and the Jazz stood, applauding Jackson, who represents so much for this city and this team.<\/p>\n
Jackson was a physical bridge between two eras of Grizzlies basketball \u2014 the \u201cGrit and Grind\u201d era highlighted by Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Tony Allen, and the Ja Morant era. <\/p>\n
Jackson was mentored by Gasol and Conley as the team transitioned away from its veteran roster, then it was Jackson, Morant and Dillon Brooks who became the faces of the franchise and took the NBA by storm, climbing up from the bottom to become one of the up-and-coming teams of the league.<\/p>\n
But that spark fizzled as controversy, scandal and injury plagued the Grizzlies, and namely their biggest star, Morant. <\/p>\n
In speaking with multiple Grizzlies staffers, front office executives and beat reporters, the sentiment was clear \u2014 through all of the chaos of the last few years, Jackson was the one constant. He was stable, joyful, professional and more than anything, dependable.<\/p>\n
When Brooks and Morant would shirk their postgame media responsibilities after big games, especially losses, Jackson would step up and became a spokesperson for the team. <\/p>\n
When the team needed a player for a community event, they knew they could turn to Jackson. <\/p>\n
When it seemed like the world was spiraling for the Grizzlies, through Morant suspensions, injuries across the roster, coaching turnover and everything else, Jackson was the constant.<\/p>\n
And in Memphis, Jackson was a constant, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than anything else though, the community took a hit when Jaren left,\u201d a person close to the team said.<\/p>\n
Kevin Love, who fully understands what it\u2019s like to be traded and then return to a tribute video and hear about the accomplishments from the former team, said that the accolades and on-court production are meaningful, but it\u2019s the fans and the imprint on the community that can mean the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know the impact that you have on an organization, a community, a city as a whole, sometimes until you leave,\u201d Love said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou have your resume virtues and your eulogy virtues, and for him, when it\u2019s all said and done, people will talk about him as an unbelievable basketball player who had a long career and went on to do great things in basketball, but at the end of the day, his impact that he had on the greater good is what people are going to remember down the line and what will be important to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was hard for Jackson to sit still on Friday night, despite the fact that just three days prior he underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his knee.<\/p>\n
Throughout the night he was greeting and hugging people, talking to fans, talking to officials, even walking over and trying to listen in on a Grizzlies timeout huddle, laughing when he\u2019d been spotted and chased away by his former teammates.<\/p>\n