The number of dry eyes were sparse.
A six-minute tribute video came to an end as the FedExForum crowd stood to its feet, applauding what Tony Allen meant to the Memphis Grizzlies during his jersey retirement ceremony on Saturday night.
Allen, standing on a stage at halfcourt with family, friends, coaches and teammates along his journey, wiped the tears from his eyes, grabbed the microphone and started his speech.
And then he talked. And talked. And talked…
From his mother to a long list of teammates and special people in his life, Allen gave special shoutouts that lasted more than 50 minutes.
The speech was all heart. For a Tony Allen jersey retirement ceremony, it was fitting.
That’s often how Allen is remembered as a player. He did the dirty work, he hustled and he was selfless.
“That’s who he is,” Zach Randolph said. “He’s a first team guy. He’s going to put his teammates first before him. And that’s what you see.”
A star-studded showing for Tony Allen
The list of attendees featured future hall of Famers and many of Allen’s former teammates. Paul Pierce, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah were among the players who didn’t play with Allen in Memphis.
Randolph, Ed Davis, Beno Udrih, Vince Carter, Quincy Pondexter and Marc Gasol all sat on stage with Allen.
Notably missing was Mike Conley, who had planned to be in Memphis, but couldn’t make the trip. Conley left a tribute video where he ended with, “G-N-G forever.”
“I actually know his story,” Gay said. “I know where he came from. I know where he is now. Me and everybody else that was here, we understand how big this is for him and his family.”
Tony Allen does it his way
The offensive jokes were limitless. Allen joked about he was told to stand in the corner and get out the way when the Grizzlies were on offense. His former coach, Lionel Hollins, was among those in attendance.
Later, while showing his appreciation to Carter, Allen joked about how Carter would often try to help him fix his jumper until he finally gave up.
Allen admits that he wasn’t the “prolific type of scorer.”
An ACL injury when Allen was with the Boston Celtics caused him to adjust. From that point on, he knew he had to win by playing harder than his opponents.
When he joined the Grizzlies in 2010, that was a primary focus.
“Before I got here, I thought a lot of times when teams come here, they probably marked us as a W every time,” Allen said. “I wanted to change that narrative by playing hard, paying attention to detail, and understanding that we are going to compete and we can just about beat anybody once we play hard and play together.”
Celebrating Tony Allen
Allen finally dropped the microphone and waited for the jersey to go into the rafters. Hip-hop artist Young Jeezy’s “Put on” song played while Allen danced with his wife and kids next to him as the jersey took its place in FedExForum.
Again, it was fitting. The moment looked like the days when Allen would get hyped before and during games to his favorite rapper, Future, songs, particularly “Go Harder.”
No one went harder than Allen, and that’s why his legacy will be attached to grit and grind, forever.
“I’m very thankful for this moment,” Allen said. “I’m going in the rafters. A lot of people don’t get this moment. I know God got a calling for me.”
Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.
