Chris Herrington counts down the eight most valuable members of the Memphis Grizzlies’ roster.

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Rather than having stars in their early 20s on rookie-scale contracts, the Grizzlies will be built on stars entering their mid-20s now on sizable deals.

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This Grizzlies season ended early on Friday night in Los Angeles and then it felt like it just kept on ending, over and over again, until the score was finally 125-85 when the buzzer sounded and this Memphis playoff ride was abruptly over.

“Lies are fluid, based on fiction rather than fact, floating on a septic sea of deception, changing course to suit the lie, navigating an ever-false course, seeking an ever-false destination.”

“Memphis should be led by someone who actually lives here, is committed to the city, and has demonstrated that commitment throughout their career.”

“With incumbent Jim Strickland forced to leave office at the end of the year because of term limits, the field is wide open for anyone who can make the best case for why she or he is the most qualified and most electable candidate.”

Did the Lakers ease up with a 3-1 lead? Did the Grizzlies change this series for good? Was this ‘give the home fans one last good time’? Time will soon tell, but here are a few reasons to believe.

The Grizzlies have a long way to go now as they return home for Wednesday night’s Game 5, where they will face elimination at the hands of the lower-seeded but more experienced, healthier and seemingly more composed Lakers.

After missing Game 2 for a hand injury, Morant’s strong performance in Game 3 gives hope for what’s possible in the games ahead.

Celebrate Earth Day by spending some time observing a single creature — what it looks like, how it moves, how it interacts with other plants or creatures in its habitat, and whether it makes any distinctive sounds.

“When there’s a medical breakthrough, you’re not going to hear about it first through an ad or sales pitch.”

“I didn’t mention that we put our house on the market that same day. Staged it, coughing. Fixed it, coughing. Moved ‘clutter' to storage, coughing. Then I moved into Methodist Germantown and left the rest to Nora.”

“Having FedEx’s influence in Memphis the past 50 years — from the high-profile items like FedExForum and the Grizzlies to actions that fly under the larger radar like all the FedEx Cares events in Memphis — has been incalculable in making our city as amazing as we all enjoy it to be.”

“These three leaders effectively tapped into the political will of a demographic that had been held down, abused and ignored year after year. A megaphone was all that was needed to shatter Speaker Cameron Sexton’s fragile ego and trigger a political earthquake.”

“We strongly urge the MSCS board and the next superintendent to continue making early literacy a top priority for our community.”

In an op-ed, Democrat Phil Bredesen and Republican Bill Haslam, who served as governors successively from 2003 to 2019, offered some specifics around “small step” gun restrictions as starting points.

“We must break down the system silos, invest strategically in communities, and hold ourselves across public and private interests accountable for results.”

“Because of the sanitation workers’ strike and the tragic killing of Martin Luther King Jr. 55 years ago, Memphis has become a welcoming place for refugees and people fleeing unimaginable horrors back home.”

“With a country format moving to the 99.7 spot on the FM dial, a station that set the tone for our youth is disappearing like our hearing and our memories.”

“When teachers, sanitation workers and municipal employees must take time off work to drive across the state to receive care for sick children, we will all feel the consequences.”

“This adolescent muscle-flex, this junior high hissy fit, this racist knee-jerk, this blatant abuse of power, this embarrassing lack of judgment put Tennessee in the national spotlight again.”

After losing 80% of his scoring from this past season, Penny Hardaway has been a busy man in the transfer portal. The Tigers have added four new players from there, and more are on the way.

“We can’t solve the poverty and cultural issues that plague our community in the short or even medium term. But we can build more prisons, with an emphasis on reform.”