Memphis Grizzlies shockingly fire head coach Taylor Jenkins with nine games left before playoffs

In a move that shocked the NBA, the Memphis Grizzlies have fired head coach Taylor Jenkins with just nine games remaining in their season. The 44-29 Grizzlies are tied with the Lakers for the 4/5 seeds in the West and head into some critical games this weekend, including against those Lakers on Saturday.

“I’m genuinely appreciative of Taylor’s contributions to this team and this city over the past six seasons,” Memphis general manager Zach Kleiman said in a statement. “This was a difficult decision given the consistent and tangible development of our players and overall success under Taylor’s leadership. I wish Taylor the very best going forward.”

There had been growing frustration in Memphis with Jenkins and the team’s direction. Memphis is 8-11 since the All-Star break with the 16th-ranked offense and 20th-ranked defense in the league. They had been average. While injuries to players such as Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. contributed to that, there was some frustration that there was less buy-in from the players in Jenkins and his system.

It’s still a massive leap from frustration to firing the coach with the most wins in franchise history — he went 250-214 as head coach — just before the playoffs. The Grizzlies reportedly did this in person on Friday morning.

Jenkins quickly becomes one of the top coaches on the market this summer when other teams make changes, although all those other teams will wait until the season ends to make their change.