Mike Conley: 'No timeline' for return to Memphis Grizzlies

Since they lost Mike Conley to an Achilles injury in mid-November, the Memphis Grizzlies have gone 5-21, falling from seventh to 14th place in the Western Conference. They’ve fired coach David Fizdale and have put themselves in position to end the league’s third longest active playoff streak (seven straight seasons).

This seems like the year they don’t fight through injuries to make it to the postseason, especially with Conley not ready to return. He spoke to the media on Friday, and the Memphis Commercial Appeal‘s Ronald Tillery has the update…

Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley said there is no timeline for his return from an Achilles injury.

But the veteran insisted that he will play again this season.

“I can’t see how I wouldn’t,” Conley said. “I’m very confident that I’ll be suiting up at some point.”

Conley spoke with media Friday night before the Grizzlies hosted the Washington Wizards in FedExForum. He’s missed 26 games while rehabbing the injury.

“There’s still no timeline. We’re just going through the process,” Conley said. “The process is slow unfortunately. I’m making progress, though. I’m doing a lot more on the court. The last few weeks I’ve been able to get into different non-contact drills. I’ve increased my load to see how much the Achilles can take.”

Conley also spoke with Marc Spears of The Undefeated about other topics, including the firing of Fizdale…

Was the firing of Fizdale hard for you to accept?

It’s hard. But we understood, at the time, what was going on with the state of the team and the state of the franchise. It’s a business at the end of the day, and we understand that part of it. I played long enough to understand that part. It’s never easy.

Did you and Gasol ever have a conversation about Fizdale’s firing?

We talked. I think Marc’s intentions are solely about the team. He didn’t want any of this to happen. I didn’t think so. It was also frustrating for all of us. It was tough for Marc, myself and probably the older guys on the team who have built this foundation to see the state that we are in.