OKC Thunder at Memphis Grizzlies Review

Written By Hooper's Almanac

By: Mitchell Soell | 8 February 2025

Adam and I will attend different NBA games throughout the season. Adam is lucky enough to have a local team he can watch very close to home. On the other hand, I have to drive at least three and a half hours to the nearest arena. So, I’ll document my travels and games differently than Adam. I’ll rate my experiences of the city before, during, and after the game. 

My second NBA game of the season was a birthday gift for my brother, Evan. Evan is a massive Oklahoma City Thunder fan, and I wanted to share another game with him before the season ended. I was looking for tickets to close Thunder games and found cheap tickets to the Thunder vs. Grizzlies game. So, Evan and I made our usual out-and-back trip. 

Drive To Memphis: 6/10

  • It takes a little over four hours, no traffic, no mysterious bumpy road once you cross the border into Arkansas that makes you think you have a flat tire. The issue is a boring drive of nothing to look at. Southeast Missouri is gross to drive through, and there’s nothing till the 4-hour mark when you arrive in Memphis.

Food (Gus’s Famous Fried Chicken) 7/10

  • Solid Southern fried chicken. Got two chicken breasts, a wing, some mac & cheese, and potato salad, and it didn’t disappoint. The vibe of the restaurant was perfect. Made me feel like I was in the South and was given solid service. At the end of the day, it was hot fried chicken.

Pregame Drinks (Peabody Hotel) 7/10

  • A nice whiskey sour before the game at the historic Peabody Hotel. My brother and I got seats at the bar and took in the full experience. There is a piano player in the background, a few groups of parties coming through (high school winter formal photos, wedding rehearsal parties, and Grizzlies fans getting ready for the game. 

Parking 8/10

  • Found a solid parking lot that is equidistant to the Peabody and the stadium. Easy to come back to the car to change into our jerseys before the game. The only issue was leaving the lot after the game. Hand up, I was a bad navigator and should’ve directed my driver better when we departed.

Atmosphere 8/10

  • Evan and I sat in 3 different sections during this game. For the first half, we sat up in the nosebleeds and were surrounded by NBA casuals where one guy claimed “flagrant fouls used to give you four free throws.” After half time, we found some first-level seats that were open for the entire first half and were 8 rows off the floor. This was the closest either of us had sat during a game. We got through 8 minutes of the third quarter until a couple came to us kindly claiming to have the seats we were sitting in. We made our way back up to nosebleeds after some more failed attempts to find seats on the first level. After finding new seats in the upper level, we sat in front of a Haitan/Creol woman whose accent was incredible, and her basketball knowledge deserves a platform to talk about the Memphis Grizzlies. She may have been my favorite stranger I’ve ever listened to talk about basketball.

The Game 9/10

  • Two of the top three seeded teams in the West. The Grizzlies were fully healthy. The Thunder were down Chet, Dort, and Cason Wallace. Even after all of that, the Thunder felt like they had control of the game very early on. The boos rained down at the first SGA free throws. My favorite player in this game, though, was Aaron Wiggins. A player I have liked for a while and loved for almost a year now, Wiggins, has had a 41-point game, and then tonight’s game where he hit eight 3’s, and I don’t think the Grizzlies kept realizing he was wide open every time. My favorite Grizzlie was, without a doubt, Santi Aldam. He has a weird build and moves strangely, but he is a pure hooper. Can hit shots, creates plays for others, and is an admirable defender.

The Drive Home 7/10

  • Outside of finally making it out of the city at 10 pm and being stuck behind a semi for over 10 miles in a one-way lane on the highway, it was an easy trip home and making it back to my doorstep before 3 am. I count that as a win. 

Overall Rating: 7.4/10

P.S.: To the usher who followed us all over the first level, I hope you have one long, haunting nightmare.

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