{"id":76548,"date":"2019-02-16T15:13:11","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T21:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=76548"},"modified":"2019-02-22T10:35:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T16:35:48","slug":"different-strokes-for-mike-conley-after-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/different-strokes-for-mike-conley-after-trade-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Different strokes for Mike Conley after trade deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Andre Earls<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Finally past the other side of the trade deadline, Memphis Grizzlies star point-guard Mike Conley was happy to be assisting with the community service project in West Charlotte.<\/p>\n

On the Friday of All-Star weekend, NBA legends past and present collaborated with dozens of NBA Cares volunteers to refurbish homes in the West Charlotte area. In addition to Conley, Klay Thompson, Miles Bridges, Buddy Hield, Reggie Bullock, Jason Collins, and others gathered at the Little Rock Apartments, partnering with United Way to help with restoration, as well as executing a food drive at the South View Recreation Center nearby.
\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s great to be in Charlotte\u201d Conley said. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be a part of different communities. I\u2019m so used to being in Memphis, so to go out into this community and meet all of the volunteers and see all of the good work they do and be a part of it, is special. It\u2019s an opportunity you can\u2019t take for granted.<\/p>\n

Ten days removed from the NBA deadline, and emotions still swirled for Conley, who is in the process of adjusting to his new teammates. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really weird sitting down next to a guy on a bus ride, or a plane ride\u2026 you look over to your right and it\u2019s a different guy sitting next to you and you\u2019re like \u2018What are you doing here?\u2019\u201d Conley said. \u201cWe knew at some point it would happen, but I\u2019m just happy that we\u2019re in a situation where we can succeed and win a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Conley himself was able to survive the trade storm, his Memphis running mate Marc Gasol was traded to the Toronto Raptors. After playing in Memphis with Gasol for over a decade (with neither player having played for another team) Conley was forced to unpack his emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we had a whole two weeks of an \u2018emotional goodbye\u2019 situation where we were constantly talking, calling, seeing what was going on with each of our situations, and where we might get traded\u201d he said. \u201cWhen he got traded, we knew it was about to happen, so it was good luck moving forward and obviously we\u2019ll see each other down the road no matter what. He\u2019ll be in Memphis with his family I\u2019m sure at some point, and we\u2019ll get together. As far as goodbye\u2019s, it was pretty simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his visible disappointment over his friend\u2019s departure, Conley\u2019s humble, objective personality was on display as he discussed how Gasol would impact the Toronto Raptors who currently have the second-best record in the NBA. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s as solid of a player you\u2019ll ever find\u201d Conley said. \u201cEvery aspect of the game, he\u2019s got no weaknesses. On the defensive end, he can really change games. He\u2019s so smart, calling out coverages, getting his hands on balls, blocks, steals, his passing ability \u2013 all of those things are going to bode well for a team that\u2019s already unselfish, plays fast and plays well together. He\u2019ll fit right in, and you can already see he\u2019s made his mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conley left his mark at the NBA Cares event, painting walls with both hands, which he said was representative of his \u2018balanced lifestyle\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah I always have [been ambidextrous], and thankfully so\u201d Conley said. \u201cWhen one arm gets tired, I use the other one. I just like to be balanced in life I guess.\u201d <\/p>\n

Stability is everything for Conley, and even though he didn\u2019t get traded, he felt the full brunt of the trade rumors. As he enjoyed painting during All-Star weekend, he\u2019s just happy he\u2019s still with the team that drafted him 12 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was emotional man\u201d he said. \u201cIt was hard because part of me is trying to lock in on my job and just worry about Oklahoma, watch film and prepare, but I can\u2019t help thinking about the other 90% of me that\u2019s like: \u2018You\u2019re going to get traded. Where am I going to go? I need to call my family. Am I even going to be playing in this game tonight?\u2019 There\u2019s so many different thoughts so honestly, it was just about trying to get to 2:00pm and get it over with\u2026 whatever it is. Whether I\u2019m leaving or staying, just so I don\u2019t have to be thinking about it, getting text messages and phone calls constantly. I\u2019m just happy it passed, and something happened, which was nothing in my case, so I\u2019m happy to be back in Memphis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Mike Conley interacts with other NBA Cares volunteers while painting the Little Rock Apartments. (Andre Earls\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andre Earls Medill Reports CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Finally past the other side of the trade deadline, Memphis Grizzlies star point-guard Mike Conley was happy to be assisting with the community service project in West Charlotte. On the Friday of All-Star weekend, NBA legends past and present collaborated with dozens of NBA Cares volunteers to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":76555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4631,4559],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nbaallstar2019","category-winter-2019"],"yoast_head":"\nDifferent strokes for Mike Conley after trade deadline - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/different-strokes-for-mike-conley-after-trade-deadline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Different strokes for Mike Conley after trade deadline - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Andre Earls Medill Reports CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Finally past the other side of the trade deadline, Memphis Grizzlies star point-guard Mike Conley was happy to be assisting with the community service project in West Charlotte. 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