Today it was announced by team president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman that the Grizzlies and coach Taylor Jenkins have parted ways. Jenkins was in the middle of his sixth season with the team, and coached back-to-back 50 win seasons with the Grizzlies in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
"I'm genuinely appreciative of Taylor's contributions to this team and this city over the past six seasons,” said Kleiman in a statement posted on X. “This was a difficult decision given the consistent and tangible development of our players and overall success under Taylor's leadership.”
ESPN says that, “Sources told ESPN's Shams Charania that Jenkins was called into the Grizzlies' office Friday morning and told he was being fired.”
The firing is a weird one in the NBA world, as the Grizzlies are currently tied for the 4th seed in the Western Conference and only have nine games left on their regular season schedule.
Jenkins joined as the Grizzlies’ head coach before the 2019-20 NBA season after splitting the last seven years before that as an assistant in Milwaukee and Atlanta. He is also an NBA D-League champion after winning with the Austin Toros in the 2012-13 season.
Jenkins also has finished in the top 10 in NBA Coach of the Year voting three separate times.
Taylor Jenkins finishes with a 250-214 (.539) record as a Memphis Grizzlies coach despite a losing record in his first season and the disaster that was the 2023-24 Grizzlies season. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies sit at 44-29 in a tight playoff race after dropping five of their last seven. They are 8-11 since the All-Star break and have not named an interim coach at this time.
