The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies played their home games at General Motors Place (now Rogers Arena) for all of their six seasons in Vancouver.

After the 1998–99 lockout, lower attendance and a weak Canadian dollar caused the owner Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment to lose money on the franchise.

After a failed attempt to sell the team to Bill Laurie, it was instead sold to Michael Heisley and subsequently moved to Memphis, Tennessee, for the 2001–02 season.

Griffiths was developing a privately owned 20,000-seat arena for the Canucks in downtown Vancouver, which was scheduled for completion for the 1995–96 season.

To start playing, the team needed to have sold 12,500 season tickets with 50 percent payment prior to January 1, 1995.

On March 7, 1995, the majority of the holding company was sold from Griffiths to Seattle-based John McCaw, Jr. Griffiths and McCaw, Jr. proceeded to create a parent company for the Canucks, Grizzlies and the General Motors Place, which at first was baptized Northwest Entertainment Group, but got renamed in August as Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment.

Winters had spent the past nine seasons as an assistant under Lenny Wilkens with the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Vancouver won the coin flip, and opted for a better position in the upcoming draft, allowing the Raptors the first pick.

[12] Every year, except the 1998–99 season,[13] the Grizzlies played the Raptors in the pre-season Naismith Cup, held at a neutral venue in Canada.

[18][19] Abdur-Rahim made an immediate impact playing for the Grizzlies, becoming the team's leading scorer while setting a franchise record of 18.7 points per game (ppg).

[23] The team traded to get Otis Thorpe for the 2003 first-round draft pick and Sam Mack for Rodrick Rhodes.

He relented and briefly considered joining the Grizzlies, but after an incident at the airport, his manager Jeffrey Fried started trying to get him traded.

In what became the biggest deal till then in NBA history, involving eleven players and three teams,[33] Francis and Tony Massenburg were sent to Houston, Michael Smith, Lee Mayberry, Rodrick Rhodes and Makhtar N'Diaye were sent to Orlando Magic, while the Grizzlies received forwards Othella Harrington and Antoine Carr, guards Michael Dickerson and Brent Price, first- and second-round draft picks and cash.

[34] Francis would go on to win the Rookie of the Year Award,[35] and was harassed both verbally and physically by fans when he played in Vancouver.

[5][41] In September 1999, McCaw announced the sale of the Grizzlies, but not the arena or the Canucks, to NHL's St. Louis Blues owner Bill Laurie for US$200 million.

At the time he stated that he intended to keep the team in Vancouver,[44] but immediately started a process to find a suitable relocation city in the US.

[45] Cities considered for relocation of the team included Memphis,[46] Nashville,[47] Las Vegas,[45] New Orleans,[48] Tampa,[48] Anaheim,[49] San Diego,[48] Buffalo[50] and Louisville.

[51] Despite the need for the construction of a new venue to house the team on a permanent basis,[52] Memphis was announced as the recipient city (pending league approval) on March 26, 2001.

The last active Vancouver Grizzlies player in the NBA was Mike Bibby, who retired after playing for the New York Knicks following the conclusion of the 2011–12 season.

The front of the uniform featured the full team name from the logo, while the "howling bear" alternate was emblazoned on the left leg.

In the 1997–98 season, the Grizzlies added a black alternate uniform, featuring only the city name in front and thick turquoise and thin red stripes.

A corresponding white uniform, with the team name and letters in black with red and turquoise trim, was also unveiled that season.

The team has been the subject of two documentary films by Vancouver filmmaker Kathleen Jayme: Finding Big Country (2018)[63] and The Grizzlie Truth (2022).