Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, May 14, 2013

SI
SI

Sure is nice to be Mike Conley, isn't it? The Ohio State product has the Memphis Grizzlies one win away from the NBA Western Conference Finals – a run that many analysts feel puts the point guard on the verge of stardom. Sports Illustrated is a believer. Conley is featured on the cover of the magazine's latest issue, with the headline: "True Grit."

According to the cover, the author, Lee Jenkins, spent a week with Conley and the Grizzlies to get an inside-look at the "NBA's most intriguing postseason sleeper."

The sleeper, of course, refers to Memphis, which rallied from an 0-2 deficit to drop the Los Angeles Clippers in Round 1 and leads West No. 1 seed Oklahoma City, 3-1, in Round 2. But Conley may be the sleeper star of the playoffs. Look at these numbers, in 10 games: 18.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 7.3 apg, 1.6 spg and 0.4 bpg.

About Brent Yarina BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina covers football and men's basketball for BTN.com. He writes the popular uniform feature "Clothes Call," which also focuses on the latest cosmetic changes across Big Ten arenas and stadiums. Read all of his work here. You can subscribe to Yarina's RSS feed and follow him on Twitter @BTNBrentYarina.