Grizzlies fire Taylor Jenkins, franchise's winningest coach, despite being in playoff position

The Memphis Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins, their winningest coach, on Friday with the team struggling down the stretch and at risk of losing home-court advantage for the post-season.

Still sitting at No. 5 in the Western Conference standings, the Grizzlies decided to dump Jenkins anyway.

Jenkins led the Grizzlies for six seasons. He was let go with the team on the verge of playing three home games in a four-day span starting Saturday — first the Lakers, then Boston on Monday, then Golden State on Tuesday.

That starts a stretch where eight of Memphis' final nine opponents are either playoff clubs or contending for a play-in spot. But it's still possible, at least mathematically, that Memphis could get back to No. 2 in the West, and it's highly unlikely that the Grizzlies will fall into the play-in tournament range.

'Difficult decision'

Still, Memphis decided it was time for a change.

"This was a difficult decision, given the consistent and tangible development of our players and overall success under Taylor's leadership," Zach Kleiman, the Grizzlies' president and general manager of basketball operations, said in a statement.

Memphis later named assistant Tuomas Iisalo as the interim coach, with the Helsinki, Finland, native in his first season coaching in the NBA.

Jenkins was the fifth longest-tenured coach with his current club in the league, behind only San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, Miami's Erik Spoelstra, Golden State's Steve Kerr and Denver's Michael Malone — all of them having won NBA titles.

Struggled vs. top teams this season

Results against the league's best teams so far this season weren't a good sign for Jenkins.

The Grizzlies were 0-4 against Oklahoma City, losing those games by 24, 13, 17 and 21 points. They're 3-6 so far this season against Houston, Denver and the Lakers, the next three teams ahead of them in the West.

And that's been a trend all season for Memphis. The Grizzlies were really good against the sub-.500 teams, but struggled mightily against the winning clubs.

Against the 13 other teams that currently are over .500, the Grizzlies are 11-20 this season and getting outscored by 77 points. Against the 16 clubs at .500 or worse, the Grizzlies are 33-9, outscoring those opponents by 462 points.

Jenkins, with a career record of 250-214, passed Lionel Hollins for most wins in franchise history Nov. 20 with a victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. He also coached the most games in Grizzlies' history, with the franchise launching in 1995.

He took Memphis to the post-season three times during his tenure but only got to the second round once.

In the 2021-22 season, the team won 56 games for the Grizzlies' most in a season under Jenkins. The Grizzlies captured the Southwest Division and were a No. 2 seed in the West. They ousted the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round, but lost to Golden State in the second with star Ja Morant dealing with an injury.

Jenkins replaced J.B. Bickerstaff, who was fired after failing to make the playoffs in the 2018-19 season. He had served as an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks, both working for coach Mike Budenholzer.

He also served a stint in the San Antonio Spurs organization, eventually becoming head coach of the Spurs G League team in Austin.

Jenkins's arrival in Memphis coincided with the Grizzlies drafting Morant with the No. 2 overall pick in 2019. Memphis made the post-season three straight seasons from 2021 to 2023. Then the Grizzlies went through a season plagued with injuries to major players.

Morant played only nine games because of a 25-game league suspension and a right shoulder injury that ended his season. Fellow guard Desmond Bane missed considerable time with a left ankle sprain, and frontline reserve Brandon Clarke managed only six games because of a left Achilles tendon tear.

That left Jenkins to manage the season with forward Jaren Jackson Jr. and a bunch of makeshift lineups, eventually finishing 27-55.

This season, Jenkins turned over his coaching staff and brought in a new offence based on spacing. Despite being plagued with turnovers, Memphis spent a large part of the season second in the West. Other teams surged as the Grizzlies' rough patch dropped them to fifth place.

Again, Jenkins spent another season piecing together lineups around Morant limited to 43 games with various illnesses, soreness, contusions and sprains. Morant missed Thursday night's game, his sixth straight, with a strained hamstring.