In a season that already saw perhaps the most shocking trade in NBA history, the 2024-25 campaign now produced one of the most stunning coaching terminations.
The Memphis Grizzlies' dismissal of Taylor Jenkins doesn't quite measure up to the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic, but it's baffling nonetheless. In coaching circles, it's just as seismic.
With the playoffs just three weeks away, the Grizzlies are tied for fourth place in a stacked Western Conference, boasting a top-8 overall record (44-29) despite losing the sixth-most games to injury, according to Spotrac. Memphis owns the league's fourth-best point differential, sixth-ranked offense, and 11th-ranked defense even though franchise star Ja Morant has missed 30 games and players like Jaylen Wells, Scottie Pippen Jr., Santi Aldama, and Luke Kennard have logged more minutes than the star guard.
That's why most of us have spent the hours since Jenkins' firing wondering what happened behind the scenes to lead Memphis to such a decision. Just as we were all left murmuring in the aftermath of the Doncic trade, this can't just be about basketball, can it?
Not even a dramatic feud between Jenkins and the front office, or Jenkins and Morant, would justify such a decision at this point in the season.
We can't speculate about what might've transpired off the court, but while we wait for details, here's what we can definitively say about Jenkins' Grizzlies on the court: All they ever did was overachieve.
In Morant's triumphant rookie season, Memphis fell short against the veteran Trail Blazers in the NBA's first play-in game, but the fact that the young Grizzlies were even in the postseason conversation was an accomplishment to build on.
After breaking through as an 8-seed in 2020-21, the Grizzlies exploded for 107 wins over the following two seasons, winning back-to-back Southwest Division titles and finishing second in the West twice. A hard-fought second-round loss to the eventual champion Warriors in 2022 preceded a disappointing first-round exit at the hands of the Lakers in 2023. But with Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane forming the team's core, the future appeared bright.
Even when the team's 2023-24 campaign was derailed by Morant's suspensions and an unfathomably long injury list - Memphis lost a league-record 592 man games to injury and suspension while using a record 33 players - the Grizzlies still made strides in their own way. Notably, Jackson and Bane continued to add to their repertoires (which paid dividends this season), while Jenkins extracted more than anyone thought possible from G Leaguers and former nobodies on a nightly basis.
Sure, the Grizzlies never made a conference final under Jenkins and lost their last two playoff series as the higher seed, but given the talent on hand, how many coaches would've had the Grizzlies in the position Jenkins had them over the last six years?
One way to capture how Memphis consistently outperformed expectations in the Morant and Jenkins era is to compare its regular-season success to preseason over/unders for wins. Keep in mind when looking at these numbers that Morant has missed roughly 47% of Memphis' games over the last four years.
Under Jenkins, the Grizzlies have always been more than the sum of their parts, just like they have again this season.
That doesn't mean he was perfect. While pundits marvel at the fact that only two Grizzlies are averaging 30 or more minutes per game this season (and none average more than 32), Grizzlies fans will tell you they haven't exactly been thrilled with Jenkins' substitution pattern and general rotation management. While Memphis' new and improved offense draws rave reviews for its unique approach, some see a strategy that too often reduces Morant to spectator status. Unsurprisingly, the assistant coach credited with constructing that system has also been fired. (It is believed, however, that interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo also had an influence on the offensive approach, and Morant still owns a top-15 usage rate.)
The Grizzlies also seem to have lost their trademark defensive identity lately. They own a 9-13 record over the last seven weeks, are 11-20 against teams .500 or better, and there seems to be some internal tension bubbling to the surface, as evidenced by a recent confrontation between Bane and Aldama.
Were those all signs Jenkins was losing control of the team, or were they merely the ebb and flow of a marathon season, particularly when a team is often banged up and missing its best player?
Barring the revelation of some behind-the-scenes scandal, the decision seems absurd. No one should be surprised if the team that made overachieving its trademark under Jenkins suddenly finds it difficult to fulfil the promise he left behind.
Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead Raptors and NBA reporter.
