Mike Conley hosts Fourth Annual Bowl-N-Bash

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Basketball players are usually known for knocking down threes, but on Saturday, September 29, a bunch of them were focused on knocking down pins.

Memphis Grizzlies guard, Mike Conley, hosted the Fourth Annual Bowl-N-Bash at Billy Hardwick’s to benefit the Methodist Healthcare Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center.

“I put this event on every year especially for my two cousins who have the disease [sickle cell],” Conley said. “This event is about getting the awareness out and helping as many people as possible.”

Over 250 bowling fans and Grizzlies fans came out to help Conley’s Bowl-n-Bash raise an estimated $18,000.

Joining Conley were Grizzlies teammates Tony Allen, Rudy Gay, Josh Selby, Marc Gasol, Quincy Pondexter and Jerryd Bayless . Other attendees included Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins, Memphis Grizzlies television play-by-play announcer Pete Pranica, Jarvis Greer from WMCTV-5, Corey Maclin from WPTY-ABC24, Jon Roser from ESPN 92.9 FM and organizations from City Auto, Methodist Healthcare Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, Lifeblood and Mid-South Marketing Systems, to name a few.

“It was a great day of fun and laughs; It means a lot to have all my teammates, fans and coaches supporting me,” Conley stated. “They really do believe in this cause and helping people. This event wouldn’t be anything without the fans, teammates, coaches and all the people who donated and came out to support.”

Memphis has one of the largest populations of sickle cell patients in the country with patients experiencing unpredictable bouts of pain that last a few hours to many weeks – threatening all aspects of their lives.

The Methodist Healthcare Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center is Memphis’ first dedicated emergency infusion unit specifically for adult sickle cell patients. Focusing on delivering the most innovative clinical care and treatment, all the proceeds from the Bowl-n-Bash will help improve the life for patients and their families living with sickle cell.

Helping the community is one reason Aaron Frasure and his two sons bowled in Saturday’s tournament.  “Anytime you can get people together for a good cause is a good thing, and anything that can help people in the city of Memphis is a great thing to do,” Frasure said.  “Conley is a great guy, somebody who is selfless, and I had a blast!”

Frasure and his sons won best overall with Frasure winning the highest average overall.

Conley spent his time going from lane to lane to personally meet, greet and thank each team.

“I learned very early in my career that the community matters almost more than what I am doing on the basketball court,” Conley replied. “Being a part of the Grizzlies community and the Memphis community is awesome.”

Along with the bowling tournament, the event featured a raffle, an auction, contests and several other prizes and giveaways. Fans also had the chance to win preseason tickets and signed autographed basketballs and T-shirts from Mike Conley and his Grizzlies teammates.

For more information on the Methodist Healthcare Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, go to methodisthealth.org

Related Video:

Mike Conley discusses Bowl 'N' Bash during his Grizzlies Media Day interview

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