Zach Kleiman admits Taylor Jenkins’ firing was his decision

Zach Kleiman admits Taylor Jenkins’ firing was his decision

Even though there was roughly two weeks left in the regular season, the Memphis Grizzlies, who are fighting for homecourt in the West, fired head coach Taylor Jenkins on Friday.

Jenkins was the winningest coach in franchise history, but the schemes and rotations weren’t necessarily clicking on either end–even though the timing of the dismissal was shocking.

On Saturday, Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman addressed the media regarding the firing, stating that the decision was solely his without consulting the players.

“I came to the conclusion that this is in the best interest of the team, and urgency is a core principle of ours, so decided to go on with the move,” Kleiman said. “The players were not consulted on this decision. This decision is mine and mine only.”

The Grizzlies also parted way with assistants Patrick St. Andrews and Noah LaRoche, who was important to the team’s offense, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

The Grizzlies named assistant Tuomas Iisalo as the full-time interim, a role that he served in November when Jenkins was away from the team on bereavement leave. Iisalo joined the coaching staff ahead of 2024-25 after professional coaching stints in Germany and France.

Kleiman’s decision must have indicated that Jenkins lacked the necessary leadership behind the scenes or there was longstanding turmoil or a disconnect between him and the players. Perhaps the roots could be deeper, but it’s very rare to see a coaching dismissal this late in the season for a team on the brink of making a top-5 seed in their respective conference.

Either way, it’s a bold decision for Kleiman–who’s also not absolved from blame over the last few seasons–for this. We’ll see how this shapes out for both sides. At least he took accountability as to who made the decision, but now he will be tasked with replacing Jenkins, which will be easier said than done.

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