Meet the Memphis Grizzlies' 'Bongo Lady'
The biggest star of the Grizzlies is on the "Bong Cam," not the players.
— -- Turns out the star of the Memphis Grizzlies is not someone with a great 3-point shot, but rather a woman who entertains the fans from her seat.
Malenda Meacham -- crowned by fans as "Bongo Lady" -- has become the focal point of the NBA playoffs this spring simply because three seasons ago she started "embarrassing her son," she recalled.
Last year's NBA "fan of the year," according to NBA TV's "The Starters," Meacham has been a season-ticket holder for the past seven years. She has two seats that rotate between her two children -- her 16-year old daughter, Hannah, and 18-year old son, Hayden.
"I paid for it, so I get dibs and he's the senior, so he gets dibs for now," Meacham tells ABC News.
And it was sitting next to Hayden a few years ago where she earned her venerable title while playing animated bongos.
"It was the first time they did 'Bongo Cam.' And it just happened," Meacham said. "I thought it was funny and I would try. And my son was there. When the camera picked us up, the more he got embarrassed, the more I got enthusiastic about it."
Think of it as a musical, more active version of the "Kiss Cam." Grizzlies reporter Chris Herrington wrote about Meacham and her mortified son, and then soon everyone in Memphis knew her as "Bongo Lady." And she is the Grizzlies' No. 1 fan as they lead their playoff series 1-0 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
In her video for the "ice bucket challenge," uploaded to YouTube with the username Grizz BongoLady, the background music is the voice of Gloria Estefan in Miami Sound Machine's "Conga."
Grizzlies fans, which also upload photos of her to YouTube, can be heard erupting in cheers when Meacham, who lives 25 miles away in Hernando, Mississippi, appears on the Jumbotron.
"That’s what’s so fun -- that I’m embarrassing my son," she said.
And have fun with it, she has, said the part-time judge who works in divorce and custody cases as a domestic lawyer.
A radio DJ recently convinced her to change her Twitter handle to GrizzBongoLady, where she tweets and posts photos of the Grizzlies.
"It’s a very happy thing. When you do sad things -- and I care very much about my job -- but it’s nice to have a happy place. Grizz Nation, this city and the Grizzly fans, they’re such a cohesive group. It’s just a welcoming thing," she said.