The Grizzlies announced they are firing head coach Taylor Jenkins on Friday with the team sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference standings. The news was first reported by Chris Haynes.
The move comes as a major surprise, as Memphis is making a playoff push with nine games left in the regular season. The Grizzlies missed the playoffs last season after losing point guard Ja Morant to a shoulder injury in December, but the team made the postseason in the three seasons prior.
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Memphis is 44-29 this season with a healthy Morant, and the team is 250-214 over the last six seasons with Jenkins as its head coach, which is the most coaching wins in franchise history.
Here’s what to know about Taylor Jenkins’ firing.
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Why did the Grizzlies fire Taylor Jenkins?
It was initially unclear why the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins amidst a playoff push. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Jenkins was called into the Grizzlies offices this morning and fired in person.
Memphis has lost four of its last five games and were 6-8 during the month of March.
Jenkins will now be one of the top head coaches on the offseason carousel, and the Grizzlies will search for a new leader with less that a month left in the regular season.
This is a developing story that will be undatedÂ
