(1) Mike Conley “Man of the Year” Mix – YouTube
I’m happy to see Mike Conley finally get a chance to play in an All-Star Game as he was named as replacement player for the upcoming game.
He’s had a nice season so far and is one of the primary reasons the Utah Jazz at the break have the best overall record in the NBA. I’m not picking the Jazz to beat the Lakers when it matters…but from what we’ve seen so far it’s conceivable they could get to the Western Conference Finals given the fact both the Clippers and the Nuggets aren’t as good as they were a year ago.
There’s a great deal of history with Mike Conley and the Oklahoma City Thunder over the years.
Conley was the Grizz point guard on those Memphis teams which had epic battles with Kevin Durant’s Thunder teams when OKC made it to four Western Conference championhips and to that one NBA Finals in 2012.
There was Tony Allen from Eddie Sutton’s last great O State team who went toe to toe with Durant in all of those meetings.
There was the fact that Mike Conley from Ohio State was the fourth player taken in the same 2007 NBA draft in which the Portland Trailblazers selected another Buckeye…Greg Oden over Kevin Durant as the first player taken in that draft class. Another Buckeye from that team Dacquan Cook would later become a bench piece for the 2012 Thunder team which made the Finals.
Even more interesting than that was the fact Mike Conley Sr. became the agent for all three of these Ohio State players.
I know some Thunder fans are bummed SGA didn’t get this spot on the All-Star team, but in reality they shouldn’t be mad at all. Because for over the duration of his NBA career there were times when Conley was on teams which pushed Durant’s teams to the limit every time they played each other… and now in his later NBA years he’s part of making the Utah Jazz the most relevant team in the West so far this season minus LeBron James.
If ever a guy deserved an All-Star game appearance it’s Mike Conley.