As far as trades go, Desmond Bane leaving the Grizzlies for the Magic wasn’t necessarily earth-shattering news. But, when we take a look at the overall impact it had on the team, it’s safe to say a lot of players in Memphis were left shaken. Bane was drafted by the Grizzlies and helped build the team to its current level, alongside Jaren Jackson Jr.
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When Jackson Jr. found out about Bane’s trade, it devastated him. He even posted an Instagram story of the two celebrating pregame, with no caption. Alongside Ja Morant, they did a fantastic job in reviving the Grizzlies, securing the 2 seed in the 2022-23 season.
Now, nearly a month on from the trade, Jackson Jr sat down with Andscape to discuss his feelings about it. The two grew up together on the team and became close friends. Jackson Jr. took 2 hours to process the news and call Bane after hearing about the trade.
“It was tough. It was just a lot of, ‘F—, man.’ It was reminiscing,” Jackson Jr. said to Martenzie Johnson. “It wasn’t really like, ‘Wow, how you feel about this?’ It was kind of just sitting there. There was some pockets of silence. We didn’t know what to do, man.”
As clearly shown by the Instagram story he posted on the day, JJJ was speechless. But the shock didn’t stop there. As part of the NBA’s efforts to make basketball popular in Europe, the Grizzlies and the Magic will play each other twice this upcoming season, in Berlin and London.
Bane, who spent 5 great years in Memphis, including an All-Rookie second team selection, won’t even get the chance to enjoy the celebrations of home fans at the FedEx Forum again. Jackson Jr. was also in trade rumors before signing a $239.9 million extension until 2030.
Last season was not ideal for JJJ and the Grizz faithful. They barely scraped through to the playoffs, fired head coach Taylor Jenkins 9 games before the postseason, and lost Ja Morant for almost 35 games through injury. Losing a fan favorite like Bane just capped off a miserable end of the season for them, and JJJ cannot wait to put it all behind him and get back to business when the season starts again.
