Best Game Ever: Mike Conley gets elementary on this one

Dan Woike asked NBA players to tell us about the best game in their basketball career. This week: Mike Conley.

1998-99 season: A Fayetteville, Ark., elementary school game.

One of the most respected players in the NBA, Conley is known as a terrific passer and a quick-handed defender while leading the Memphis Grizzlies for more than a decade. Conley’s best game ever, though, was more about his scoring.

“The best basketball game I ever played was probably when I was in the fifth grade. I was in Arkansas. We were playing, I think it was Holcomb Elementary or New School [in Fayetteville]. I can’t remember which I was at. For whatever reason, I decided I was going to try and score every time. I had 51 that game, but it felt like I didn’t even shoot that much. I’m very unselfish, and I know I had 20 assists because I was moving the ball. But, it felt like I was a part of every single point scored that game. It really felt like I couldn’t miss. I couldn’t be stopped. I’d never felt better during a game than that one.”

dan.woike@latimes.com

Twitter: @DanWoikeSports