I live with possibly the only Memphian who was actually relieved when the Grizzlies were knocked out of the NBA playoffs by the Golden State Warriors, late in a fiercely fought second-round series. That Memphian, I’m sorry to report, was the dog. Lily Bear ought to be a Grizz fan: She is, after all, not just united with the team by adoptive hometown, but also by their shared identity as bears.
But Lily prefers her evenings calm and quiet. After a hard day’s labor taking walks and scaring off delivery trucks with the audacity to drive down our street, she deserves a rest. Her humans hollering, whooping, and grimacing as shapes dart back and forth on a glowing rectangle? Not restful. Ordinarily attached to me via invisible thread, Lily leaves the room with a bit of a huff when she hears the net swish and the crowd roar. I assume Lily wishes the Grizzlies well in their off-season, but she also hopes we lose interest before they return to the court in the fall.
Sorry, Lily, but that’s not likely. Plenty of teams are embraced by their cities, and vice versa, but I have to believe the kind of alchemy that exists between Memphis and our Grizzlies is uncommon stuff. Have you watched the crowds in other arenas lately? Can you imagine any of those crowds losing their collective minds to a hip-hop anthem, especially one that some might find … unsavory? That’s Memphis for you.
I happen to adore it. Yes, “Whoop That Trick” may originally have implied, well, the violent subjugation of women. And yes, I’m quicker than most to register and call out misogyny. This isn’t it. An arena full of Memphians shouting, “Whoop that trick (get ’em)!”? That’s underdog joy. That’s Memphis. (Although my own little underdog, Lily Bear, considers this exact scenario to be her worst nightmare. Maybe her moral compass is better developed than mine.)
We can’t always explain the specific energy of our city, but when we’re feeling it, we’re incorrigible. Memphis Flyer Grizzlies reporter Sharon Brown told me recently that in her view, “When this team is having fun, they’re unstoppable.”
Our city is far from perfect, but look around the community — medical or otherwise — and you’ll see lots of examples of folks rising to the occasion, doing their part to support the team.
One of my many favorite aspects of this Grizzlies team: How much our success depends on less-flashy players — how well we perform when we ought to be down-and-out, and when our biggest-name star can’t join the squad. Ja Morant is a very, very big deal for the team and for the city, but when he’s sidelined by injury, so many other Grizzly Bears rise to the occasion. Watching Ja play is an awful lot of fun, but it’s also fun to watch him gape in awe at his teammates’ plays, or follow them around after they’ve won a game he couldn’t suit up for, filming them on his iPhone like a proud parent.
Rising to the occasion is the unofficial theme of this issue. As we do every June, we’re presenting you with the Top Doctors (more than 300 of them) in the Memphis area, according to peer review. A good doctor always makes a difference, but after the tumultuous pandemic years, we’re especially, acutely conscious of that difference and its magnitude. The medical experts in our community have risen to the occasion in remarkable and tangible ways.
Alongside the list of Top Docs (and spotlights on a handful), we’re also sharing two distinctly different but connected stories. Frank Murtaugh explores the work of St. Jude Global — how the children’s research hospital based here in Memphis is changing the outcomes for children facing daunting diagnoses around the world, including kids in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Alex Greene introduces you to the global outreach work of Memphian Dr. Bill Novick, who specializes in pediatric cardiac care — or reintroduces you, if you’ve been reading this magazine since 2013, when we ran a cover story on “Dr. No” and his foundation. Undaunted by wars raging outside hospitals, Novick travels to places like Ukraine to help heal children’s hearts.
Even our Habitats story, written by Chris McCoy, involves an element of rising to the occasion: Painter/contractor Hector Portillo, who immigrated from Honduras 23 years ago, literally raised the living space in his Binghampton home by adding a second story to the once-condemned bungalow he’s turned into a neighborhood showpiece.
Our city is far from perfect, but look around the community — medical or otherwise — and you’ll see lots of examples of folks rising to the occasion, doing their part to support the team.
Just don’t cheer too loudly, please. That will make Lily Bear rise from the occasion — and give you some canine side-eye on her way out, for good measure.
