Tony Allen is one of the greatest perimeter defenders of his generation. Allen had a 14-year career in the NBA that will mostly be remembered for his time as the shutdown perimeter guard on the Grit-N-Grind era Memphis Grizzlies. Allen was never a big scorer, but he was in many ways the heart-and-soul of those Grizzlies teams, earning six All-Defense selections and helping the team reach the Western Conference Finals in 2013.
Tony Allen ripped the Pelicans for being the ‘worst organization in the NBA’
Tony Allen’s podcast appearance making fun of his time with the New Orleans Pelicans was pure gold.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Allen will have his number retired by the Grizzlies this season despite a career scoring average under nine points per game. Memphis absolutely loves TA, and for good reason. He may not be quite as beloved in New Orleans after his latest podcast appearance.
Allen was a guest on Grind City Media in Memphis this week. The conversation touched on his final year in the NBA with the New Orleans Pelicans. Allen only played 22 games with the franchise, but he got to know everything good and bad about the organization. He spilled it all in a hilarious segment that had the rest of the crew unable to control their laughter.
The segment starts with Allen calling former Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry “one of the worst coaches in the world,” and completely goes off the rails from there. Allen roasted ownership after he finished making fun of the coaching staff. He said “Whatever the Saints didn’t eat we got the leftovers.”
Watch the incredible clip of Allen talking about his experience with the Pelicans here:
Allen is a national treasure. His bit about Gentry — “He wasn’t drawing up no plays!” — is had everyone on the set in stitches. Gentry was “just old” according to Allen, to the point where he would forget what he wanted to tell the players in the huddle.
“Alright team on 3, what’s the name of the team?”
The most damning stuff here is about ownership. Gayle Benson owns the Pelicans and the NFL’s Saints, but everyone knows the football team is the real jewel. Allen said the Pelicans would “practice on the football field” and would be “shooting baskets in the goal posts.” He also said the organization would make the players take Uber pools to games. I can’t tell if that was a joke.
This is one of the most entertaining player podcast appearances I’ve ever watched. Protect Tony Allen at all costs.
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