The Memphis Grizzlies made a shocking decision when they fired Taylor Jenkins with only nine games remaining in the regular season and despite being in a heated playoff race in the Western Conference. But the move to fire Jenkins could have been a long time coming, even tracing back to the offseason.
The Grizzlies may have fired Taylor Jenkins near the end of the 2024-25 season, but back during the offseason was when the wheels may have been set in motion, as per Sam Amick, Joe Vardon and Fred Katz of The Athletic.
In the offseason, the Grizzlies' front office essentially forced Jenkins to overhaul his coaching staff. Gone were Blake Ahearn, Scoonie Penn, Brad Jones, Sonia Raman and Vitaly Potapenko. The only holdovers from the previous season were Anthony Carter and Patrick St. Andrews. The Athletic reported that Jenkins was very emotional in his meetings with the front office when the final decisions were made to change his coaching staff.
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Tuomas Iisalo, who was named interim head coach of the Grizzlies after the firing of Jenkins, was among the new coaching staff hires that the front office added to Jenkins' staff. Following the firing of the old coaches and the hiring of the new coaches, it reportedly set an uneasy tone for the start of the season that set the wheels in motion for Jenkins to ultimately be dismissed.
With Jenkins gone and Iisalo at the helm for the moment, the Grizzlies have nine games left to mount a playoff challenge. They are currently in fifth place and 44-29. The Grizzlies are essentially tied with the Lakers in the standings, but the Lakers hold the current tie-breaker with a 2-1 lead in the season series. The Grizzlies face off against the Lakers on Saturday.
Jenkins had been the franchise's all-time leader in coaching wins during his six years with at the helm. He led the Grizzlies to three playoff appearances in that time.
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">David Yapkowitz is a basketball journalist for ClutchPoints, writing news on the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA Basketball for both men and women. The Los Angeles native has bylines with Basketball Insiders, SB Nation, and The Next Hoops.