Memphis Grizzlies players Santi Aldama and Steven Adams traded 3-point attempts inside of an empty Madison Square Garden just before the team flight was leaving for Minnesota earlier this month. As they moved along the arc, the competition quickly heated up. 

The matchup was between 6-foot-11, 265-pound David (Adams), who has 15 career 3-point attempts, and 7-foot, 215- pound Goliath (Aldama), who makes 1.3 3-point shots per game on 35% shooting. 

So everyone wanted Adams to win. Including the coaches, who made up every excuse to get Adams more tries and keep him in the competition before the younger Aldama could finish it. 

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Between every shot, Adams improvised a few curse words, or slung his arms around in circles as a distraction technique. None of it worked. 

Aldama buried him anyway, then celebrated by muttering something in Spanish that made his teammate chuckle before lightly punching him on the arm. 

Perhaps that visual, better than any words, describes one of the more unlikely friendships inside the Grizzlies’ locker room. But it is the loudest and most noticeable of bonds between Memphis teammates. 

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Aldama, now in his second season, is closer to a rookie than he is a veteran. He played in only 32 games overall last season – 360 minutes total. He turned old enough to have a drink just last January. 

Adams, meanwhile, is more experienced than every Grizzlies player not named Danny Green. He is in season 10 of his career and is considered an elder statesman among the bunch, despite being only 29. 

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“Yeah, but (Adams’) mental age is about 18,” Aldama joked. “So, it works. We are closer than people think, because his body is old, but his mind is not.”

But it’s not just their age. Everything about their styles is different, too. 

Aldama has a level of flash to his game – a doesn’t-give-a-damn attitude, as teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. described it – that leads to behind-the-back passes in traffic and reverse dunks in transition. Off the court, he’s typically thoughtful and polite. 

Adams, on the other hand, is a display of sheer force, muscling opponents out of the way for rebounds and finishing around the rim with grounded hook shots. He’s a prankster and swears like a sailor. 

But it’s very clear that they love playing with each other, and it becomes more evident as they continue to fire verbal shots across the short distance between their lockers. 

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“(Aldama) is a w----- mate,” Adams said. “I don’t like him, it’s just my duty to look after him. It’s unfortunate, I know. 

“Nah, I’m just playing. Santi is a good b------.”

Who is this guy?

The first time Adams met Aldama, he questioned him on where he was from. 

“I told him Spain and he said, ‘Hell no!’ ” Aldama said. “He said I had too much hair to be Spanish. I had to tell him, ‘No really, I’m actually Spanish.’ He came out real honest. So was kind of like, ‘Hey, I can f--- with that.’ ”

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An “honest guy” is the descriptor Aldama would use for Adams in a pinch. 

“He will tell you what he thinks straight up,” Aldama said. “Maybe it comes out a little bit too sincere sometimes, but it’s always from a good place. He is big on including other people and getting everyone involved.”

What Aldama means by that is no one – not even the team’s stars – are safe from Adams’ trash talk. But he likely dishes it to his closest friend the most. 

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After Aldama scored 21 points in a preseason win over the Magic in October, Adams told reporters that he believes the reason his Aldama is playing well is because he shaved his eyebrows. 

“He’s playing pretty good,” Adams said. “... He can see now.”

It’s not exclusive to off the court, either. According to Aldama, they dish it to each other during the games as well. 

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“We say all this little dumb stuff to each other, but it gets us going,” Aldama said. “If I miss a 3, or he misses whatever, we just start talking s---. It keeps us loose, keeps us concentrated and is a reminder that we are there for each other.”

Soccer fan Steven

Adams has several phrases that he uses often, most of which can’t be shared on this website. 

Recently he’s been shouting “SIUUU!”

He blurts it out at the end of Grizzlies practices, and even got his teammates to join in doing it during a television interview after an Oct. 27 win over the Kings. 

these dudes ?? pic.twitter.com/Xh52wVfEg0

— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) October 28, 2022

“Siuuu!” comes from famous soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. The word translates to “yes” in Portuguese, but it is extended for dramatic effect. Ronaldo started the goal celebration when he played on the Spanish club Real Madrid from 2009-2018.

So it was natural to wonder if Adams picked that up from Aldama. Of course, he said he did not. 

“That’s from me being cultured,” Adams said. “That was my other Spanish friends teaching me, you feel me?”

This time, Aldama concurred. 

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“I honestly don’t know where he got that,” Aldama said. “That was from like five-plus years ago when Ronaldo won the Ballon D’or. Steve-O just showed up after this summer saying that. I kept asking him where he got that, telling him it’s like five years old. He just said, ‘Me and my boys in New Zealand say it.’ 

“Now we’re saying it all the time. It’s insane. He has all these catchphrases, and we all end up just following them.”

Spanish lessons

Aldama was also surprised to learn this season that Adams has an affinity for Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, whose music is in Spanish. 

“He’s a big Bad Bunny fan, actually,” Aldama said. “I normally play Bad Bunny and some other Spanish artists, but he just came in one day and started playing Bad Bunny. Then he was asking me what all the songs were about. There are so many things about him that are just so random.”

But what started as lyrics translation has now expanded into mini Spanish lessons between the two Grizzlies bigs. 

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“He likes asking a lot of questions about different stuff,” Aldama said. “It’s not always the best Spanish, I would say. But there’s a little bit of Spanish in general. It’s mostly Spanish that he would use.”

Which is the polite way of saying Adams wants to know the curse words in Spanish. Aldama teaches them to him anyway. 

“There’s no doubt about that,” said Aldama with a laugh. “He loves that stuff. He’ll be shouting it and s---. It’s just funny to the rest of us.”

But even when speaking Spanish, the two friends and teammates don’t stop giving each other a hard time. It’s the fabric of their friendship – one of the strongest bonds on the team. 

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“I’ll tell him how to say it, then a couple days later he will change the pronunciation,” Aldama said. “Then when I correct him, he blames it on me. He’s not a good enough student, that’s the thing.”

To which Adams responded, “Ah mate, Santi hasn’t taught me s---.”