Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale was fined $30,000 for his “Take that for data” postgame rant – a rant that is quickly becoming iconic. Fizdale made no attempt to hide his outrage regarding the officiating in that second game between the Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs. Fizdale’s players were appreciative of their coach’s rant; point guard Mike Conley sent his coach a “thanks for standing up [for us]” text and assured him that the players would pay his fine:
“We told him right away you’ve not gonna have to pay that” @Mconley11 speaks to the media after practice today. #BelieveMemphis pic.twitter.com/4giHRlR30F
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) April 19, 2017
Conley was happy that Fizdale stood up for his players, and the Grizzlies will gladly chip in to pay the fine. As pointed out by The Ringer, this will hardly put a dent in the deep, deep pockets of Mike Conley:
Fizdale's $30K fine equates to ~3 minutes of playing time for Mike Conley, who made $11,579 per minute this season. https://t.co/BodDZvvsQI
— The Ringer (@ringer) April 19, 2017
This is a great thing for Conley to say, yet may not even be the coolest thing that he’s done this week. As a way to thank Grizzlies fans for their support, Conley purchased 500 tickets for Thursday’s game in Memphis.
