While he averages a modest eight points on his career, he simply has not needed to score the ball to be an important NBA player in the last decade.Ĭonsidered one of the best if not the best center in today’s talent-loaded NBA, it is difficult to put down DeAndre Jordan, even if any offensive game he has boasted in the past nine seasons has been thanks to injuries or simply existing next to Chris Paul. Yes, the Grindfather has made a name for himself in his twelve NBA season by consistently swiping the ball from opponents, and being the guy who eagerly accepts the toughest opposing player assignment night in and night out. Tony Allen is the working-class hero of the NBA! If you don’t know his name, you may have missed the 2008 Boston Celtic championship run, or any of the Memphis Grizzlies surprisingly effective playoff appearances in the 2010s. After slinging mud at his teammate, he simply chalked up the victory to the grit and grind, a phrase that eventually came to be the team-nickname for the Memphis Grizzles: The Grindhouse. An interesting story came out of Memphis recently, when Tony Allen finally called out then-Grizzly swingman Rudy Gay for not playing one night on account of a “hurt toe,” an injury that switched Allen’s defensive assignment of the night from James Harden to Kevin Durant.
