Forgotten Seasons

Tony Allen arrived in Memphis in 2010 and tried to establish a similar culture of his last team, the Boston Celtics. Allen won a ring with the Celtics in 2008 and observed the work ethic of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, James Posey, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.

Before Allen got there, the Grizzlies had a grand total of zero playoff wins as a franchise in their 15+ years of existence. Most players on the team, besides Allen, had no playoff experience. Pretty soon after his arrival, Allen's influence rubbed off on the rest of the team, and Grit 'N' Grind was born. The Grizzlies made the playoffs as the 8-seed and beat the 1-seed Spurs in six games. In Round 2, they took the eventual Western Conference champs to 7 games but lost.

In this week's episode, Allen relives his journey from Boston to Memphis, explains how he implemented a culture, breaks down his chemistry with Zach Randolph and goes in depth on his perimeter matchups with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

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Mike Bibby and the 2002 Sacramento Kings had one of the most heartbreaking playoff series of all-time versus the Shaq and Kobe Lakers. We dive deep with Bibby on handling that devastating loss, his views on today's player development philosophies, and the underrated players from his era that don't get enough credit.

The former point guard doesn't hold back, providing raw insight into the controversial officiating conspiracies that clouded that iconic 2002 Western Conference Finals. Bibby reflects on the lasting impact and what-ifs from that crushing defeat.

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Paul Pierce's journey is something out of a movie. In September, 2000, Pierce was stabbed 11 times in a nightclub and came millimeters away from dying. He nearly became the third Celtics forward in less than 20 years to tragically die. Not only did Pierce survive, he became one of the greatest Celtics of all time.

In this week's episode, Pierce takes us through his journey returning to the court a month after the stabbing incident. In the 2000/01 season, Pierce played all 82 games and was coined "The Truth" by Shaquille O'Neal after dropping 42 points on the Lakers. Following his breakout 2001 campaign, Pierce leveled up in 2002, earning his first All-Star selection and bringing the Celtics just two games away from the NBA Finals.

Plus, he explains how he developed his patented mid-post game, talks "Club Shiznit" and much more.

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Amin Elhassan peels back the curtain and brings us inside Phoenix's front office during times of great change. Elhassan spent six years inside Phoenix's front office from 2005-2012 and had a front row seat to glory and turbulence.

He provides detailed recounts of several unanswered questions from his tenure. Why couldn't they get past San Antonio? Why did Steve Kerr trade Shawn Marion for Shaq? Why did the Suns players rebel against Terry Porter? Was Shaq really a child movie star?

All and more is revealed on this week's episode.

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Matt Barnes is a fighter. From 2003-2010, he signed six one-year contracts with six different teams. In this week's episode, we hone in on Phoenix in 2009, where the Suns were entering a new phase. Mike D'Antoni, the architect of the '7 Seconds or Less' Suns, fled to New York, and Terry Porter took the helm as head coach.

Porter was quick to dismiss D'Antoni's run-and-gun offense. "If you look at the history of the game, no team that has played that running style has had much success,” said Porter before the season. Porter's defense-first approach did not go well, and he was fired before the trade deadline. Phoenix finished 46-36 but missed the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference. It's one of the highest win totals in NBA history for a team that missed the playoffs.

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From 2000-2006, no Laker (other than Kobe Bryant) logged more games than Devean George. Drafted to LA out of Division 3 (!) Augsburg College in 1999, D George arrived in La-La Land just in time for three consecutive championships.

On today's episode, George recalls his first days in LA, a memorable draft workout with new head coach Phil Jackson, Kobe vouching to front office for him during contract negotiations, "Santa" Shaq and much more.

George is the only player other than Kobe that saw the glory of the 3-peat and the unraveling that followed.

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Josh Smith joins the show and takes us back to getting drafted by his hometown Atlanta Hawks straight from Oak Hill Academy. Smith was one of 21 players that were drafted straight from High School between 2003 and 2005.

Getting drafted to your hometown team sounds like a dream. But what if your hometown team also happens to be one of the worst teams in NBA history? Well, the 2005 Hawks went 13-69, good for the 8th worst winning percentage in the modern NBA (since 1980). Smith opens up about his rookie year, his complicated relationship with Head Coach Mike Woodson, Joe Johnson, Antoine Walker and more.

Smith had a hell of a career. He's one of six players since 1990 to put up 100+ steals and 200+ blocks in a season (Hakeem, David Robinson, Andrei Kirilenko and Ben Wallace). He made an All-Defensive Team. And he probably should have made an All-Star Game.

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Josh Smith joins the show and takes us back to getting drafted by his hometown Atlanta Hawks straight from Oak Hill Academy. Smith was one of 21 players that were drafted straight from High School between 2003 and 2005.

Getting drafted to your hometown team sounds like a dream. But what if your hometown team also happens to be one of the worst teams in NBA history? Well, the 2005 Hawks went 13-69, good for the 8th worst winning percentage in the modern NBA (since 1980). Smith opens up about his rookie year, his complicated relationship with Head Coach Mike Woodson, Joe Johnson, Antoine Walker and more.

Smith had a hell of a career. He's one of six players since 1990 to put up 100+ steals and 200+ blocks in a season (Hakeem, David Robinson, Andrei Kirilenko and Ben Wallace). He made an All-Defensive Team. And he probably should have made an All-Star Game.

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Amar'e Stoudemire joins Forgotten Seasons to talk about his record-setting 2005 Playoff run, why the 'Seven Seconds or Less' Suns never won a championship, Tim Donaghy, the Horry Hip Check, his Knicks tenure and more.

To many, these Suns teams are in contention for best team to never win a championship. When Steve Nash joined the Suns for the 2004-05 season, the Suns exploded. They began the season 30-4 and were DESTROYING teams. Phoenix finished the season 62-20 with (by far) the #1 offense in the league.

In the playoffs, at 22-years-old, Stat averaged 30 and 10 (!) against some of the best power forwards of all-time, Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan.

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Dee Brown joins the show and opens up on a turbulent 90's decade in Boston. Brown is the lone Celtic that played Larry Bird and Reggie Lewis AND played for coach Rick Pitino.

In this episode, we begin in 1990, when a rookie Brown becomes a Celtic in the midst of a major transition for Boston. After winning three championships and making eight straight Conference Finals in the 80's, Boston lost in the first round in 1988 and 1989. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish's championship window was closing, but a young phenom, Reggie Lewis, seemed ready to take the torch and define a new era. In 1991 and 1992, Lewis averaged 25 points per game in the playoffs and the Celtics won over 50 games each year.

But Boston's seemingly perfect bridge between the Bird and Lewis era suddenly collapsed in the summer of 1993. Lewis' 1993 season was cut short after he mysteriously collapsed in a playoff game. Shortly after the season, doctors cleared him, but as he was training at Brandeis University, he suffered cardiac arrest and died. He was just 27 years old.

In the years following Lewis' death, the Celtics tanked out. They failed to win over 35 games from 1994-1996, and in 1997, they went 15-67, by far the worst season in franchise history.

Enter Rick Pitino in the Spring of 1997, who was named the savior, but disaster would turn out to be the more accurate label. Midway through Pitino's first season as Head Coach and Team President, Brown was packaged in the infamous Chauncey Billups for Kenny Anderson trade.

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