By Logan Murdock / @logan_murdock
This past winter I went down to Fresno, California to see the family for the holidays. I can't speak for everyone's family, but whenever there’s an available hoop and the fam is in full force, you better believe there will be a game played.
The superstar of the best of three series was my Uncle Eddie. Now when I say superstar, I don’t mean in the sense you might expect. The 48 year-old, 305-pound behemoth (beer belly and all) went a combined 6-of-38 over the course of the three games played. However, the 'superstar' atonement came from the man’s trash talk, prison-style defense, and even the occasional hook shot. With Uncle Eddie on my team we won all three games, delivering a few cuts, bruises and heavy breathing along the way.
Unc’s performance was eerily similar to Tony Allen’s in the series between his Memphis Grizzlies and the NBA's top seeded Golden State Warriors. Yes, the man will occasionally give you plays like this...
...but the guy is all heart. That's why we love Allen, because he can have some bone-headed moments on the court, then he'll do something incredible like this...
Tony Allen won me over in the 2010 playoffs while he was a member of the Boston Celtics. He guarded Kobe Bryant at the peak of Bean's superpowers and held him to approximately 40.5% shooting in the NBA Finals. Kobe would later give Allen his props, saying, “He’s fundamentally sound defensively and he plays harder than everybody else defensively.” This series against Golden State has been no different. The People’s Champ has been all over the court defensively, literally diving for every lose ball. We all know that Mike Conley’s return is the sexy storyline in this series (especially on this site), but the Grizz aren’t up 2-1 without Tony.
So cheers to the Grindfather, keep channeling your inner Eddie Murdock.
Related: The Mike Conley Broken Face Playoff Game (And Why He’s Always Been The Man)
