Marcus Good’s bond with Tony Allen started years earlier than he was drafted by the Celtics

Celtics

They reportedly met at a basketball camp, the place a teenaged Good obtained a defensive cease that impressed Allen.

Marcus Good and Tony Allen met at a top-100 gamers camp when Good was in highschool, in response to Damichael Cole of the Memphis Business Enchantment.

Good was dedicated to Allen’s alma mater, Oklahoma State on the time. One of many camp counselors was dominating the campers in 1-on-1 drills.

Good nonetheless remembers the problem the camp counselor issued.

“Who can cease me? ”the counselor stated, in response to Good. “If anyone in right here can cease me, let me know.”

Foreshadowing his future as an elite NBA defender, Good stepped up and obtained the cease. Allen was there watching, and he was impressed.

“Proper then and there, we had that bond,” Good stated. “To see how our careers have been related is form of loopy.”

Good and Allen had been each Celtics first-round picks from Oklahoma State. Each gained Huge 12 Participant of the Yr and have made the NBA All-Defensive First Crew thrice. Each ended up in Memphis as their subsequent cease after Boston.

Their careers by no means overlapped with the Celtics. Allen left as a free-agent in 2010. The Celtics picked Good 4 years later in 2014. Good spent 9 seasons in Boston earlier than he was despatched to Memphis as a part of the Kristaps Porzingis commerce.

Allen, who Grizzlies followers generally confer with as “The Grandfather,” was a key contributor to the Grit and Grind-era Grizzlies groups together with Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and Zach Randolph.

He stated he’s desirous to see how Good fares in Memphis.

“The grind is again up in impact,” Allen stated. “I’m wanting ahead to seeing Marcus Good are available and lock down on the perimeter.”

The Grizzlies will rely not simply on Good’s defensive abilities, however his playoff expertise and management abilities as effectively. Good has an NBA Defensive Participant of the Yr Award and an NBA Finals look underneath his belt.

The 29-year-old Good is the third-oldest participant on the Grizzlies roster behind former league MVP Derrick Rose (34) and veteran huge man Steven Adams, who turns 30 on Thursday.

The workforce’s core gamers; two-time all-star Ja Morant, sharpshooter Desmond Bane, and reigning NBA Defensive Participant of the Yr Jaren Jackson Jr. are all 25 or youthful.

“(The Grizzlies) obtained numerous legs, and so they’re athletic,” Good stated. “I’m an previous man now, so that they’re going to make me really feel younger.”