On January 7, 2011, the Memphis Grizzlies welcomed their old rivals, the Utah Jazz, back to their home court.
By now, the conflict between Deron and Sloan had erupted in full. With the two central figures at odds, the Jazz had recently become one of the most heavily covered teams in the media.
Rumor had it that the Jazz were seriously considering whether to keep Jerry Sloan or Deron Williams. Though the Jazz certainly wanted the two to continue getting along peacefully, that had become little more than wishful thinking.
With the Jazz in disarray internally, Lionel Hollins's goal for the day was naturally to win. After a six-game winning streak brought them to 18-17, the Grizzlies had surpassed the Rockets for ninth place in the West. They were still three games behind the eighth-place Hornets.
Three games was no small gap. The Grizzlies had to maintain their momentum if they wanted to overtake them quickly. Beating a Jazz team caught up in internal strife was their only objective today.
Before the game began, Randolph noticed Link writing something on his basketball shoes with a marker.
Yesterday, Link had found twenty pairs of brand-new basketball shoes in the box, along with all sorts of other gear. He had only brought two pairs to the game today, leaving the rest with the equipment manager to handle from now on.
Watching Link scribble on his new shoes with a pen, Randolph curiously leaned closer.
But after taking one look, the usually playful Randolph did not disturb him any further. The words Link had written on the side of the sole were exactly the same as those on his old shoes.
They read, "Rest in peace, Zeke."
Link, now outfitted in brand-new Nike gear, played well in this game. Neither Kirilenko nor