The Memphis Grizzlies players are trying to find their way again after Taylor Jenkins was fired.
The Memphis Grizzlies delivered a major decision to remove Taylor Jenkins from his head coaching post, after six years of partnership.
Considering the timing, with roughly two weeks left into the regular season, what Memphis did was unprecedented, considering the team ranked currently at No. 5 in the Western Conference standings (44-30).
General manager Zach Kleiman already took full responsibility for the decision, feeling that it is for the best interest of the franchise moving forward.
No other Grizzlies players have grown as fond and close to Jenkins as Ja Morant.
Both Jenkins and Morant entered the Grizzlies franchise in 2019. They served as the faces of the team’s rebuild and went on to spearhead Memphis’ meteoric rise as a legitimate contender.
Under Jenkins, Morant became one of the league’s most electrifying stars. He led the Grizzlies to three winning seasons highlighted by a dream campaign in 2021-22, clinching a franchise-record 56 wins and a trip to the Western Conference Semifinals.
Reflecting about the franchise’s dismissal of Jenkins, the Memphis superstar can only admit the challenging process he has to embrace.
“It’s tough for me,” Morant said after a 22-point effort in the Grizzlies’ 134-127 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 29.
“I had Coach Taylor since I got here, you know? Everything I’ve done in a Grizzlies jersey, it’s pretty much been under him.
“That’s always tough. It’s my first time really experiencing a coach leaving since I’ve really been hooping. It was a lot to process but with the timing, it was just tough.
“We had to quickly turn the page to the Lakers. That’s just a tough part of the business of, I guess, the NBA.”
Although the record shows that the Grizzlies are doing well and have successfully delivered a solid bounce-back season following a rough 2023-24, the entire team struggled lately behind Jenkins’ leadership.
Before the termination took place, the Grizzlies already lost four of their last five games. They’ve been awful since the All-Star Break with an 8-11 card heading to their key weekend bout against the Lakers.
For Desmond Bane, it’s simply him and his Grizzlies teammates who should be held accountable for the team’s overall slump which impacted Jenkins’ firing.
“We’re five players out there. Coach didn’t shoot one shot all season. He didn’t guard anybody. He gives us a great game plan and we didn’t execute it to the level that we needed to,” Bane argued.
“A lot of times, coaches and other people end up taking the fall. But ultimately, it’s on the players.”
As challenging as it might be with eight games left into their regular season calendar, the Grizzlies have no choice but to move forward and continue their contention aspirations under interim mentor Tuomas Iisalo.
And as they are about to push through for the NBA championship, the Grizzlies hopes nothing but the best with Jenkins as they finally part ways.
“That’s my dog,” Jaren Jackson Jr. said of Jenkins. “He’s been here pretty much the whole time I was here outside of my year with [J.B Bickerstaff in 2018-19]. That will forever be my dog.
“He made a great impact while he was here. Obviously he’s going to be one of the more sought after coaches in his tenure journey elsewhere, and deservedly so.”
