Justin Timberlake is an actor and musician and one of the coolest guys on the planet and last year he followed in the footsteps of his friend and collaborator Jay-Z and purchased a minority stake in a profession team in his hometown Memphis Grizzlies.
Rumors of the move broke back when new owner Robert Pera took over the team since the two are friendly with each other, the situation came up where Timberlake could buy into the franchise of his hometown team. The reports said that he would be active within the franchise and that he would like to make a "meaningful" investment into the team when he comes in. Timberlake has been a sports fan through his career and he has continued to rise in prominence with film roles and new bestselling album, "The 20/20 Experience".
Timberlake appeared around the team earlier in the year and also came to a shoot around one time late last year and now it appears that his investment was a very good one. The Grizzlies have improved from year to year and the team showed some true mettle while defeating the Clippers in the playoffs in the first round this past month with a 4-2 series win in six games. The team now is playing the Oklahoma City Thunder and is up 2-1 after winning Game 3 at home 87-81 and now the team has Game 4 at home as well.
The Grizzlies have defensive player of the year in Marc Gasol and he has been dominant as has Zach Randolph and now that the team is up 2-1, they have the chance to take command while playing at the FedEx Forum where they are 32-9 this season from the regular season and are tough to beat. Kevin Durant has been excellent for the Thunder, but the Grizzlies have done a good job defensively with their game plan and they have been able to shut things down.
Mike Conley is the best point guard in the series now that Russell Westbrook went down and whether the Grizzlies win the series or not, the team is trending in the right direction. The team has a new owner and a new energy with the playoff success and they appear as if that will only improve as time goes on. The team once was a perennial loser, but now they are consistently one of the best defensive teams and teams overall in the NBA and with coach Lionel Hollins they can make some noise this postseason against a Thunder team that went to the finals on year ago.
