The meaning of this Memphis Grizzlies Christmas goes far beyond Golden State | Giannotto

There are but two Memphis Grizzlies employees left who came here with the franchise from Vancouver 21 years ago, and John Pugliese remembers getting the city on board with the NBA was never the problem. They realized quickly Memphis was ready to embrace major professional sports, despite the contentious community debate that preceded the Grizzlies’ arrival.

But once basketball began to thrive in Memphis, once Hubie Brown and Pau Gasol got the Grizzlies to the playoffs, once the Core Four took the team to the Western Conference Finals and grew the fan base exponentially, and even once the Grizzlies became the headliner of the NBA’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations, grabbing the attention of basketball fans outside Memphis proved more elusive.

“I think that is the culmination of what Christmas Day is,” said Pugliese, the team’s vice president of content, production and broadcast. “Every year, we’ve struggled to maintain a national foothold throughout the year. But this team has connected not just within Memphis, but also on a national and global scale.”

There will be no more meaningful participant in the NBA’s annual Christmas showcase (7 p.m. CT, ABC) than these Grizzlies, and it has nothing to do with the burgeoning rivalry between Memphis and Golden State that helped create the momentum for this moment.

The likely absence of Steph Curry due to injury, and the presence of a primetime NFL game this year, can’t take away from this feeling that Memphis is finally considered a marquee attraction by the NBA.

It is, without a doubt, the result of Ja Morant’s ascension into one of the league’s superstars, and a draw unlike any the Grizzlies have had before. It's why his social media feud with Draymond Green this past offseason, a back-and-forth that seemed to push this matchup over the edge as an NBA attraction, resonated so much.

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Fans come to opposing arenas just to see what ridiculous play he might pull off next. The NBA’s television partners gave the Grizzlies a record number of national games this season, most notably this one, because of Morant and the intriguing team that surrounds him.

With Curry not playing, there will be no bigger star on the floor than Morant. He will be featured, and in turn the Grizzlies will be featured, in a manner those who have been with the franchise since the beginning could only dream about even just a few years ago. The players have been talking about this opportunity since the schedule was released.

“It’s a validation of the popularity of this team and proof that a small market team can show their wears on Christmas Day,” said Pete Pranica, the Grizzlies’ television play-by-play announcer. “I shouldn’t say you never anticipate this, but it has been an amazing journey from a team that couldn’t win a playoff game, was always kind of an afterthought. They went to the Western Conference Finals, but even then they weren’t that popular.”

“This is a team that went to the Western Conference Finals,” he added, “and could not get a Christmas Day game despite the fact that they were a really good team. But now they’ve got the marquee player in Ja Morant, so couple that with the success of the team, you’re on Christmas day.”

It may well be the first of many Christmas days spent watching the Grizzlies because their rise seems only to be just beginning. With Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., recognition of what Memphis has built will only grow, particularly as this opportunities in the NBA spotlight keep coming.

Perhaps, soon, there will even be a Christmas celebration at FedExForum. That, of course, would feel especially significant because of how uncertain at times fans were about the sustainability of an NBA franchise in Memphis, despite mostly unwavering local support.

“It’s about time for us. We deserve to be promoted,” declared Fred Chambers, one of the team’s original season ticket holders.

He was there, like so many others around town, for those early years when the Grizzlies didn’t win many games. He was there during that original breakthrough, when Memphis got to the playoffs but couldn’t win a playoff game. He was there when Z-Bo and Marc and Mike and Tony brought the city together under one Grit and Grind mantra. And he has been there for this version of the Grizzlies, the version with the most promise of them all, it appears.

So once the presents are opened, settle in to watch the greatest gift of all this year – a merry and memorable Grizzmas.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The meaning of Memphis Grizzlies Christmas goes beyond Golden State