This is the final installment of the interview 3 Shades of Blue had with Grizzlies majority owner Michael Heisley. In the first part, second part and third part Michael talked quite candidly about the Grizzlies season, the Allen Iverson situation, his role as owner and decision maker on the team, the difficulty being an NBA team in a small market and other topics. Michael has always been generous with his time and the writers at 3 Shades of Blue appreciate his openness. 

We have removed certain players names from the interview to eliminate any possibility of tampering allegations being made but otherwise the interview is exactly what Mr. Heisley gave to us. 

3SOB: Memphis has a team right now that could be well built for long-term future growth however this is also a team who has every player potentially without a contract within the next two years. Is this a wise strategy for a small market team and you need to hold onto players for longer time? 

MH: Well, I can only hold on to them if they want me to hold on to them. I have every reason to believe that we will reach a contractual acceptance of Rudy and he'll stay with us. We've got a couple of other players that are going to come up in the next year or so, Marc and others. I have utmost confidence that we will be able to keep virtually all of those players if not all of them. 

This is the 3rd installment of the exclusive interview 3 Shades of Blue had with majority owner Michael Heisley of the Memphis Grizzlies. The first part and second part covered the team as a whole, the Allen Iverson situation, the rookies and Mr. Heisley's involvement with the team. Once again this interview was conducted on Dec. 1, 2009 so some items discussed may already have become a bit dated. We apologize for that.

MH: I don't know if I've learned that.

This is the continuation of an interview 3 Shades of Blue had with Grizzlies majority owner Michael Heisley on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. We left off the first part of the interview with Michael Heisley discussing Allen Iverson and what happened with him in Memphis. We continue now with Mr. Heisley's comments. 

MH: So that's what happened with Allen. Now I don't know why people are having a problem with all of this. That's the reality but it's too matter of fact.

It's very tough to be one of the greatest players to ever play the game and get towards the end of your career, get traded, get injured, go through this process and keep an equilibrium. I'm not sure how Kobe or anybody else would handle that. But Allen's going to have to come to grips with his game and where he's going to play and how much he's going to play and how all of this is going to work out. 

3SOB: Good afternoon Mr. Heisley, the first question we have for you is pretty straightforward. What are your impressions so far about how the season is going?

MH: I think it's been like a roller coaster. I can't tell you how pleased I am with a number of the games. With the way the front line has played. I think Marc Gasol has been a real pleasant surprise. Zach Randolph has been every bit as much as I hoped he would be. Rudy Gay is moving towards being a real star in this league.

The Memphis Grizzlies have been making news since the NBA Draft. None other than NBA.com have called the Grizzlies draft the best (thanks David Aldridge for the nice plug by the way). Memphis hasn't been content to stop either. They have been one of the most active teams in the NBA heading into free agency so it was a pleasant surprise when Michael Heisley, the Memphis Grizzlies owner, agreed to a quick interview with 3 Shades of Blue. 

It isn't often that we get giddy about things involving the Grizzlies. After all, with pre-game and post-game writeups, general observations and our unrivaled access to the team and front office personnel, there is little that really gets our juices going with the team.

Then there is the opportunity to interview someone like Ashley E. Don't get me wrong. I really appreciate the time Michael Heisley and Chris Wallace give us for interviews and the access we get to talk to players but there is something about talking to a beautiful blue-eyed blond that is so much more exciting.

At the beginning of the season 3 Shades of Blue joined the infant Bloquin network of bloggers and have had a great relationship all year. One of the bloggers that joined 3 Shades of Blue at Bloquin was Bust a Bucket, a team blog for the Portland Trailblazers. As has been our tradition we try and gain some insight into Grizzlies opponents by asking questions of their team's best bloggers. Here are the questions we posed to Sheed at Bust a Bucket and his answers.

The Memphis Grizzlies are in Minnesota tonight to take on the Timberwolves, as the two teams involved in the most talked about draft night trade from last summer meet for the third and final time this season.  If you want the lowdown on the team from the land of 10,000 Lakes, there are a few options to look to, but I rank T'Wolves Blog among the very best.  We were fortunate enough to get College Wolf to answer our questions and ask a few of his own, which you can see here.

The Grizzlies are taking on the Houston Rockets tonight, and as far as we here at 3 Shades of Blue are concerned, that means there is only one blog to talk to: The Dream Shake.  Settle in as we ask them some questions about their team and then head over to their great site to see what they asked us.