Grizzlies fire Taylor Jenkins with one week left until the playoffs

[Tetsujin]

Either the Grizzlies are getting ahead of something really really terrible or the Kings have just been lapped in the absolutely baffling personnel decisions Olympics.

Taylor Jenkins was called into the Grizzlies office this morning and was fired in person, sources tell ESPN. Stunning dismissal. Jenkins now becomes one of the top head coaching candidates for the upcoming cycle. He had a .539 winning percentage as Grizzlies coach. https://t.co/fKRG7MNY58

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

 

[iowamcnabb]

Either the Grizzlies are getting ahead of something really really terrible or the Kings have just been lapped in the absolutely baffling personnel decisions Olympics.

Taylor Jenkins was called into the Grizzlies office this morning and was fired in person, sources tell ESPN. Stunning dismissal. Jenkins now becomes one of the top head coaching candidates for the upcoming cycle. He had a .539 winning percentage as Grizzlies coach. https://t.co/fKRG7MNY58

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

Have we ever seen something like this? Had it happened after the season it would still be stunning but I would have assumed it was to hire their assistant coach. This is wild

 

[chief bromden]

Either the Grizzlies are getting ahead of something really really terrible or the Kings have just been lapped in the absolutely baffling personnel decisions Olympics.

Taylor Jenkins was called into the Grizzlies office this morning and was fired in person, sources tell ESPN. Stunning dismissal. Jenkins now becomes one of the top head coaching candidates for the upcoming cycle. He had a .539 winning percentage as Grizzlies coach. https://t.co/fKRG7MNY58

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

This is shocking

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Either the Grizzlies are getting ahead of something really really terrible or the Kings have just been lapped in the absolutely baffling personnel decisions Olympics.

Taylor Jenkins was called into the Grizzlies office this morning and was fired in person, sources tell ESPN. Stunning dismissal. Jenkins now becomes one of the top head coaching candidates for the upcoming cycle. He had a .539 winning percentage as Grizzlies coach. https://t.co/fKRG7MNY58

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

I kinda posted this already over in the NBA forum, not thinking it deserves its own dedicated thread, but since we're here, I will simply copy my message over, minus the link I added...

The current Western Conference 5th seed showing their coach the door with 9 games remaining in their regular season schedule is such a "2024-2025 NBA Season" thing to do...

 

[Tetsujin]

Have we ever seen something like this? Had it happened after the season it would still be stunning but I would have assumed it was to hire their assistant coach. This is wild

Timing came after the season but the Grizzlies fired Dave Joerger despite him coaching them to the playoffs with a roster so injured Matt Barnes was probably their best player. The Grizzlies’ injury situation hasn’t been as bad this season and a lot of their issues have been self-inflicted (trading for and then having to give away assets to get rid of Marcus Smart or the whole LaRavia situation) but that’s probably the closest I can think of.

 

[Tetsujin]

Memphis GM Zach Kleiman: “I’m genuinely appreciative of Taylor’s contributions to this team and this city over the past six seasons. This was a difficult decision given the consistent and tangible development of our players and overall success under Taylor’s leadership. I wish…

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 28, 2025

 

[Tetsujin]

Memphis changed out virtually all of Taylor Jenkins’ coaching staff after last season, which raised eyebrows across the league. But to make this decision on the Grizzlies’ bench right now… a truly surprising development.

— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) March 28, 2025

ooh so it’s a Mike Malone’s last season with the Kings sort of situation lol

 

[coolhandluke]

Have we ever seen something like this? Had it happened after the season it would still be stunning but I would have assumed it was to hire their assistant coach. This is wild

Taylor Jenkins has been doing a good job keeping the Grizzlies afloat despite the injuries. Maybe they are comfortable going forward with Tuomas Iisalo, who surely should be attracting heavy interest from other teams (including Kings) for the HC position?

 

[Padrino]

Wow. Why now? It just seems strange to give up on the season like this when you're tied for the 4th seed in the notoriously brutal Western Conference. This feels like a front office power play of some kind. It would be harder to justify firing Jenkins in the off-season if the Grizzlies were to make noise in the playoffs.

I'm not necessarily interested in a Jenkins hire for the Kings, but I suppose it's another name to consider if the Kings do a proper head coaching search in the off-season.

 

[Tetsujin]

The Grizzlies have lost 4 out of their last 5 and are 8-11 since the All-Star break.

Ja Morant has missed 8 out of those 19 games, including the last 6 games.

With Morant this season:

28-15 with
16-14 without

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) March 28, 2025

lol so it’s definitely a Mike Malone getting fired Sheila Boogie has meningitis situation

 

[Tetsujin]

If you’re on Grizzlies twitter, the fans talked about Taylor Jenkins like he was Satan’s greatest soldier, they’re happy right now.

— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) March 28, 2025

 

[Tetsujin]

Jenkins finally fired pic.twitter.com/qeqUuWlsuj

— 🌧️ (@w7stgoat) March 28, 2025

what am I missing here?

 

[Padrino]

Jenkins finally fired pic.twitter.com/qeqUuWlsuj

— 🌧️ (@w7stgoat) March 28, 2025

what am I missing here?

Not entirely sure, but my understanding is that the issue with Jenkins for Grizzlies fans is... pretty much the same issue that Kings fans currently have with Doug Christie... and pretty much the same issue that every fanbase has with every head coach. Rotations, rotations, rotations.

 

[Tetsujin]

Many around the NBA expect the Grizzlies to soon name Tuomas Iisalo as their interim head coach.

Iisalo joined Memphis last summer to lead their offense after having immense success overseas with Paris Basketball.

The 42-year-old is viewed as an innovative offensive mind. pic.twitter.com/YzxfDz1K3J

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) March 28, 2025

 

[coolhandluke]

Many around the NBA expect the Grizzlies to soon name Tuomas Iisalo as their interim head coach.

Iisalo joined Memphis last summer to lead their offense after having immense success overseas with Paris Basketball.

The 42-year-old is viewed as an innovative offensive mind. pic.twitter.com/YzxfDz1K3J

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) March 28, 2025

Some team must have approached the Grizzlies asking for Iisalo and they had to elevate him to avoid losing him.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Jenkins finally fired pic.twitter.com/qeqUuWlsuj

— 🌧️ (@w7stgoat) March 28, 2025

what am I missing here?

every fan base eventually hates their coach haha

 

[NiNetNiNe]

So this begs the question, barring some scandal, do we try to hire him? I don't know much about how he coached the Grizzlies, but their fans seem to think they underperformed as a team. But, to me, looking at their team and all the injuries, it's a miracle they are where they are.

 

[coolhandluke]

every fan base eventually hates their coach haha

I still remember the Adelman hate around these parts.

 

[dude12]

If I’m the Kings, I 1000% have him on my list as a potential head coach. All I know is that his teams always seem to play hard no matter who is on the floor. Been really successful

 

[coolhandluke]

The Memphis Grizzlies are naming assistant Tuomas Iisalo as the interim head coach, sources tell ESPN. Iisalo, a native of Finland, is a former Finnish professional player and coach. He was head coach of Paris Basketball in 2024, winning the EuroCup and EuruCup coach of the year. pic.twitter.com/nKPCdzh7Ms

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

 

[LPKingsFan]

Sounds like maybe Memphis is trying to avoid the Kings fate of letting a prized assistant get poached right before firing your head coach, and instead decided to fire the coach and elevate the assistant sooner rather than later.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Is this Jackson/Kerr 2.0. It could be

 

[iowamcnabb]

Jenkins is just 40, I thought he was a bit older

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Memphis changed out virtually all of Taylor Jenkins’ coaching staff after last season, which raised eyebrows across the league. But to make this decision on the Grizzlies’ bench right now… a truly surprising development.

— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) March 28, 2025

ooh so it’s a Mike Malone’s last season with the Kings sort of situation lol

No we weren’t the two seed for half the season and we fired Mike before January how do you fire a coach two weeks before the playoffs

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Sounds like maybe Memphis is trying to avoid the Kings fate of letting a prized assistant get poached right before firing your head coach, and instead decided to fire the coach and elevate the assistant sooner rather than later.

What he did to that offense was legit stuff more teams are gonna follow

 

[Kingz19]

that’s a shock

a lot has been made about Memphis having a unique style of offense in a league where everybody else is running the same thing. I didn’t realize it was a guy behind the guy doing it. Figured it was Jenkins.

Still cold to fire the guy at this point

 

[iowamcnabb]

Tuomas is viewed as next up. Coach of the year at every level so far for him. I thought he would have been an absolute dream fit with Monte.

 

[Tetsujin]

Feels like Grizzlies fans are vastly overestimating their teamwide talent/ the health of Ja and JJJ.

 

[gunks]

I wouldn't be mad if we went after him. I'm sure Christie's assistant job will be safe since ownership has insisted he stick around though multiple HCs.

I feel like he'd be a good fit with Keegan, Keon, Carter, and Domas. Grit 'n Grind Kings is something I could get behind!

 

[Rain man]

So should we be expecting Mike Malone and Steve Kerr to blast the Grizz front office, or do they only hold vitriol for Sacramento?