The Memphis Grizzlies made one of the more shocking moves weeks before the playoffs begin.
The Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins on Friday. NBA insider Chris Haynes shared via X.
Memphis Grizzlies announce they have parted ways with head coach Taylor Jenkins.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 28, 2025
Grizzlies president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman announced that Jenkins has been fired.
Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
“I’m genuinely appreciative of Taylor’s contributions to this team and this city over the past six seasons. 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.”
The decision to move on from Jenkins comes as a shock. He’s been with the team since 2019 and currently has the team with a 44-29 record, sitting as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.
While the Grizzlies have yet to reach the Western Conference Finals under his leadership, he has led them to the playoffs in three of his five-plus seasons. Their best season under Jenkins came in the 2021-22 season when they recorded a 56-26 record, which was good for the second seed in the West.
The Grizzlies fell to the eventual defending champion, the Golden State Warriors, that season, but there was hope the team would be a force to be reckoned with. The next season, Memphis earned the No. 2 seed again but fell short to the more experienced Los Angeles Lakers in the first round in six games.
Last season, the Grizzlies were bitten by the injury bug, and in a bad way. Many of their top players were out with serious injuries, which led them to a 27-55 record.
This season, the Grizzlies have played some good basketball, but they were not up to par compared to two of the last three seasons.
Jenkins leaves the helm with a 250-214 record, winning 53.9 percent of his games. The Grizzlies job was the first of his career after he was an assistant coach before landing the job at Memphis.
The 40-year-old started his career as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013 and was last an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2018-19 season.
Jenkins was awarded the Western Conference Coach of the Month three times in his tenure and finished in the top 10 in NBA Coach for the Year voting three times. He finished as No. 2 in the COTY voting in the 2021-22 campaign.
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