Attending Memphis Grizzlies home games provides unique opportunities for NBA fans. They get to hear — and participate — while tens of thousands of fans repeatedly chant "Whoop That Trick."
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But why exactly do fans of this NBA team do this during every home game?
One big reason is the city connection. Al Kapone, a rapper from Memphis, wrote the song Whoop That Trick and released it in 2005. This song became a key part of the soundtrack to the film Hustle & Flow. Actor Terrence Howard sang it while playing the role of Djay.
According to The Sun, the Grizzlies then adopted the chant in 2013, one year after suffering a playoff series loss to the Clippers.
We’re so close to the first “whoop dat trick” moment of the year in the Grindhouse #BigMemphis #FWB pic.twitter.com/IZUpZKBGcF
— GrindHouse Grizzlies (Spaces) (@SpacesGrizzlies) April 3, 2023
Al Kapone, for his part, provided his thoughts about his song becoming a rallying cry for his hometown NBA team.
"The chant came from the people," the rapper told ABC 24 Memphis during a 2022 interview. "It just resonated out the crowd. I don't know where it came from or who started it... it's mind-blowing to see Whoop That Trick being a motivational — it turned into this will to win motivation.
"We are the underdogs, we're always looked at as the underdogs. We're David always going against Goliath. That song represents the underdog fight. We're going to grind, we're going to Whoop That Trick, and we're going to get them up out of here."
The Grizzlies have been considered the underdogs of the Western Conference of the NBA at times. The team routinely plays against the Lakers, the Clippers, Mavericks, Spurs, and other historic organizations that have won titles.
They have made the playoffs many times since moving from Vancouver to Memphis in 2001. Although the 2025-2026 season served as an outlier as the Grizzlies went 25-57 and fired head coach Taylor Jenkins.
The team has reached the Western Conference Finals only one time, doing so during the 2012-2013 season. The Grizzlies have never reached the NBA Finals.
