Things didn’t end well for Lionel Hollins and the Memphis Grizzlies, and it seems that Hollins still has some resentment for the place. The current Brooklyn Nets head coach, in an awkward attempt to talk up his new life in NYC, basically trashed Memphis for its supposed lack of modern touches. Per Nets Daily (via the team website):
“I believe all he possibilities for being a champion are in place,” Hollins said. “And we just have to do our job to make it a reality, as both players and coaches. Then, we can all celebrate together.” […] At another point in the conversation, Hollins said the Nets have merely the “possibility of being a good team,” adding, “You know, everyone you talk to, you go to restaurants and they’re ‘Aw, you know you got a challenge there. They’re old.’ But I see a team that really has some youth and has a nucleus outside of KG, outside of Paul Pierce, as we go forward, they develop. Deron Williams is 29 (actually 30) and in the prime of his life; Brook is young and Joe Johnson is in the prime of his game. Then, we have some younger players. who’ve come on board.”
[He said he wants the team “to add some toughness, add some discipline and by discipline I don’t mean fining someone for being late, but discipline for doing the right thing on the court, be where you’re supposed to be, make the rotation, be in the right spot on defense, make the right passes, those type of things. That is discipline!”]
“I’m pretty comfortable with New York. I just never thought I’d be living here … especially after being 12 years in Memphis,” he said smiling, adding, “Memphis is like, compared to New York, it’s back in the stone age when you didn’t have electricity or something. That’s not a knock on Memphis, just a contrast in how developed and how unbelievably electric New York is versus Memphis. People are laid back, they move slow, they talk slow, drag their words out. Here everybody talks too fast.”
