Premium

Herrington: Tony Allen took over and reminded Memphis why it loves him

By , Daily Memphian Updated: March 16, 2025 12:08 AM CT | Published: March 16, 2025 12:08 AM CT
Chris Herrington
Daily Memphian

Chris Herrington

Chris Herrington covers the Memphis Grizzlies and writes about Memphis culture, food, and civic life. 

Back in the day, when he was wearing Beale Street Blue, Tony Allen used to wander around the Memphis Grizzlies locker room after games, singing to himself. 

“Ain’t no love in the heart of the city. Ain’t no love in the heart of town.”

It’s the chorus to a 1974 R&B song by Memphis music great Bobby “Blue” Bland, though Allen knew it via a sample used in a then-current song from rapper Jay-Z. 

One imagines this particular song was not on Allen’s lips Saturday night when he was once again the center of attention in the arena where he built his legend. 

If FedExForum is the heart of Memphis, and it was on this night, love was abundant. 

This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.

Topics

Memphis Grizzlies Tony Allen Subscriber Only

Thank you for supporting local journalism.

Subscribers to The Daily Memphian help fund our not-for-profit newsroom of nearly 40 local journalists plus more than 20 freelancers, all of whom work around the clock to cover the issues impacting our community. Subscriptions - and donations - also help fund our community access programs which provide free access to K-12 schools, community organizations, and more. Thank you for making our work possible.

Chris Herrington on demand

Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Chris Herrington's stories as they’re published.

Enter your e-mail address

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Comments

Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here