Grizzlies Must Reconcile TAMS Throw-backs

     MEMPHIS–   If the Griz decide to part with their vintage Don Magic Juan green and gold ABA image, they will have to take another good look at the past to come up with Hardwood Classic throw-backs. Presently, A small core of amazing NBA fans 1) would love to bring back the huge, bizarre, trendy graphic designs of the mid 90s, 2) fondly remember Shareef Abdur-Rahim’s early NBA days playing alongside Big Country 3) are not squeamish about excessive amounts of teal or Vancouver-based defeats. Unfortunately for that visionary contingent of basketballers,  it still seems far too soon, too irrational and too unlikely for the Memphis Grizzlies to consider donning the original Vancouver Grizzlies threads for NBA Hardwood Classic games. As mentioned previously, it’s tough for a young franchise with so many throwaways to contrive retro throwbacks.

      Sadly, nay, tragically those Grizzlies uniforms don’t exactly constitute classic or retro throwbacks since they left Vancouver only a decade ago, and the stigma that the original jerseys were worn by Vancouver squads who ranged from terrible to “young and rebuilding” (meaning also terrible). While it would not be the type of insensitivity to incite the outcry, rampage, and rioting that would erupt in Seattle if KD and his OKC Thunder team mates decided to strut out in SuperSonics throwback jerseys this season, it would still be poor form on the part of the Memphis Grizzlies to attempt to pass off jerseys from the fairly recent unsuccessful Vancouver days as Hardwood Classics or “throwbacks.”

 “I’m not afraid of suffocating. I just don’t see why I should ever learn to breathe with my mouth closed.”-Bryant Reeves

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 Shareef Abdur-Rahim: the high flying bright teal spot on a perennial NBA bottom-dweller in a foreign land

      For Memphis fans and most basketball fans, it would certainly fall somewhere between hilarious and awesome to see current Memphis Grizzly Zach Randolph working the boards sporting Bryant Reeves’ good ole, huge, teal #50 jersey, but maybe the world is not ready for that yet.  The world has already made it very clear it is not a collective supporter of the second coming of the Memphis Tams’ alternating bright green and bright yellow uniforms, so it may be time to think of a new Hardwood Classic option that does not borrow from the maligned Memphis Tams (or the too-recently deposed  Vancouver Grizzlies).  The Tams vibrant color clashing uniforms created quite a buzz and quickly became a popular target for ridicule from former and current NBA players and countless  two-bit basketball pundits. The Griz might think twice before taking the court again next season adorned in the glorious Tams regalia that garnered so much negative feedback last year

       Even Rudy Gay, the star player who chose the reincarnation of the ABA Tams uniforms to be the Memphis Grizzlies’ NBA Hardwood Classic uniforms for the 2011-12 season, admitted he did not realize that the green shorts and yellow jersey would be part of the same uniform to be worn in mismatched tandem. Gay, still probably society’s closest thing to an apologist for last season’s Memphis Tams throw-backs, also remarked that the jerseys did not look as blindingly loud in person as they appeared on the television screens seen by the uniforms’ innumerable critics.

“Back off, Haters!”

       In any case, I sympathize with Rudy that he and the Grizzlies caught way too much flack for the Tams uniforms. First of all, everyone chill out: they weren’t that awful.  Admit that the 70’s style typeface “MEMPHIS” across the front of the jersey looks fantastic in an ABA-tastic way, and admit it is impressive that the current Memphis NBA franchise paid homage to a beloved albeit unsuccessful Memphis ABA franchise that featured Memphis round-ball heroes like Larry Finch and Johnny Neumann.  There is something about the absurd funk, flair, and frugality of the origianal ABA landscape that seems to excuse the bad as awesomely bad, the confusing as cool. Lord knows we have seen much worse throwback jerseys in sports and the Tams uniforms are far from what can be considered ugly or weird by wild, funkadelic 70’s ABA era standards.

 

          Much of the negative feedback about the Tams uniforms was simply haters being hypercritical of the color combination of yellow and green. In the words of the illustrious arch bishop Don “Da Magic” Juan, “Green is for the money, gold is for the honeys.”  Granted, Bright green shorts and a bright yellow sleeveless top would likely be an ill-advised wardrobe selection for most every occasion in society ranging from funerals to job interviews (depending on the the job), but yellow and green have never been a terrible or even uncommon color scheme in professional sports. While at any level of basketball higher than church league ball it is extremely uncommon for basketball shorts and jersey to be different colors, it is not uncommon to see the combination of yellow and green in sports at the an level pee-wee to professionals. Please see Packers, Green Bay or SuperSonics, Seattle or Athletics, Oakland. The Tams, after all,  were purchased and branded by the owner of the Oakland A’s who wanted yellow and green brand clarity among his sports franchises but it could have been worse.  Nonetheless, the ABA non-sympathizers have spoken and last season’s Memphis throwbacks are the envy of absolutely no one in the NBA.

          Maybe if the Grizzlies had fully committed to the concept by also incorporrating the obscenely short shorts and the amazing warm-up suits, they would have won over more hearts with their flash-back to the Memphis Tams(see below). However, for future Hardwood Classic throw-back jerseys, the Grizzlies need to  (re)consider the other ABA versions of Memphis teams still available for more impressive jersey emulation.

Awesome Memphis Tams Warm-ups

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 Memphis Pros Throw-Backs

      For the Memphis Grizzlies’ first ever NBA Hardwood Classic throw-back jerseys (see Damon “Mighty Mouse” Stoudemire #20 above), they chose to go  with the original ABA Memphis Pros,  in the spitting image of Gerald Govan (back ground image  of this blog) and Johnny Neumann sans belt buckle (left, #14) . Clearly it  was wearing the old school baller Memphis Pros uniforms that propelled the Grizzlies to  improve into the kind of team that could earn a berth in the playoffs  and  get swept in the first round. I don’t know why the dapper Pros jerseys have not  stuck around. If it aint fixed, don’t broke it, or something along those lines. There was never a need to abandon the cool Pros uni’s, and it is never too late to bring them back. They looked great in past Memphis Grizzlies games, Mike Miller once went off for 40+ points  in a Memphis Pros uniform, and even before the Grizzlies migrated to Memphis the Pros uniforms were already reemerging in pop-culture to make a positive impact in the post-ABA world. By 1996, the so-fresh-and-so-clean-clean swanky threads began appearing in the poolside reveries of trash talking puppets. Memphis  basketball legend Penny Hardaway, along with Lil’ Penny, wore them in an  iconic nike commercial.

 

       In fact Lil’ Penny looked so incredibly super-duper-fly in a Pros jersey that despite mind-boggling adversity(that his jersey number wasnt even a full numerator, that he was a small plastic puppet with no known brain, heart or reproductive organs, and that he had to overcome the greatest obstacle of having Chris Rock’s voice),  he was still able to mack on supermodel Tyra Banks. Get it L. P.

       As great as the Pros throwbacks were, and as talked about as the Tams throwbacks have been, the Griz still have not yet tapped into the most magnificent, marketable and uniquely Memphis ABA persona:

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The Memphis Sounds

       As long as everyone is so strongly opposed to ever having to watch basketball being played by anyone wearing unbearable yellow and green ABA uniforms, the Grizzlies should capitalize on the safer, yet cooler, soul-powered uniforms of the long defunct Memphis Sounds. The Sounds were an admirable last hurrah for the ABA in Memphis, and while they did not come close to a whiff at a title, they graced basketball courts with creative uniforms that actually looked good. It may be time to let a beautiful ABA butterfly emerge from the scoffed and scorned cocoon of last season’s California Gold and Green Tams uniforms. Hear me out Grizzlies, in 2012, bring back the sweet Sounds jerseys.

Cue the SHAFT theme song,  and keep on scrollin

Sounds 1974-75 Home Uniform

Sounds 1974-75 Road Warmup

Sounds 1974-75 Road Warmup

 

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Most all of the ABA images are from RememberTheABA.com. Also for great franchise synopses, historical fun facts, and more recovered photographs of  completely Afro-ed Dr. J and other ABA stars from ABA teams like the Memphis Pros/Tams/Sounds visit a very fascinating  website