The heckling for Mike Conley Jr. has been relentless during the first month of the season, and it wasn't any less evident on Saturday night as his Memphis Grizzlies faced the Miami Heat on the road.
According to Grizzlies beat writer Ronald Tillery, two fans were sitting behind him heckling Conley for the largest contract in NBA history, when he signed a five-year, $153 million contract with the team this summer.
Two dudes are sitting behind me, heckling Mike Conley about his contract when he checked in for the final time at American Airlines Arena.
— Ronald Tillery (@CAGrizBeat) November 27, 2016
The clean version: “C’mon Conley. $150 million! That’s a lot of money and you haven’t done anything.”
— Ronald Tillery (@CAGrizBeat) November 27, 2016
Prior to that, only Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant had earned a sum of $30 million per year.
While it is indeed hard to justify that kind of money, it is largely a product of the NBA salary cap extending and TV revenue being at an all-time high with all these multi-year deals with TV networks.
Conley is doing his fair share though, as he's averaging career-highs almost all across the board. The 6-foot-1 point guard has bests in points (19.5), rebounds (3.8); field goals made (6.1), three-pointers made (2.5), and free-throws made per game (4.9) while shooting 47.6 percent from deep and 89.7 percent from the line.
The Ohio State product came off the bench against the Heat as a maintenance plan, since he played a whopping 45 minutes against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. Conley responded with 21 points in 34 minutes, including a nine-point flurry of his own to give his team a 110-107 win against the Heat.
Conley hits a 3-pointer. Then scores on a driving layup while being hacked for a three-point play. He hit another 3-pointer & Griz are up 7
— Ronald Tillery (@CAGrizBeat) November 27, 2016
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