Jaren Jackson Jr. reflected on his nearly eight seasons with the Grizzlies and shared an emotional farewell to Memphis fans in a first-person essay published by The Players Tribune.
In the piece, Jackson looked back on his growth with the franchise and described the moment he learned he had been traded to the Jazz, explaining that he immediately understood the reason for being summoned to general manager Zach Kleiman’s office.
“It’s funny, though, when the conversation ended I was just awkwardly looking around all confused like John Travolta in Pulp Fiction,” Jackson wrote.
“Like, Well, what now? I literally asked him, “Can I go back upstairs and say bye?” Like he was gonna press a button, and the trap door was gonna open up.”
Jackson described those final moments with teammates as relaxed and filled with humor, even as he realized they marked the close of an important chapter in his career.
While friendships would continue beyond basketball, he understood that his time sharing the locker room with them as teammates had come to an end.
“But one thing I’ll never forget was a moment in the locker room before I left, when everyone was joking around again,” Jackson added.
“And it was just so weird because in my head it was like, Wow, this is the last time I’m gonna see this. They were about to leave to get on a plane. It was a wrap. But I was joking around as if I was gonna see them later. I was just laughing, deep down thinking like, Wow, I’m definitely gonna miss y’all boys. I didn’t say it in the moment. But I’m saying it now.”
Southwest Notes: JJJ, Iisalo, Fears, Murray, Durant https://t.co/kQU6jwWwGq
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) February 22, 2026
