Grizzlies’ Ja Morant on Taylor Jenkins dismissal: ‘It’s tough for me’

March 30, 2025

The decision to fire ex-coach Taylor Jenkins with nine games left in the season shocked the entire NBA. That included the Grizzlies themselves.

For starters, power forward Jaren Jackson Jr. said he thought his friends had been trolled by social media account NBA Cental, which has become renowned for its funny dose of fake hoops news.

Star point guard Ja Morant was equally impacted.

“It’s tough for me, I’ve had Coach Taylor since I got here,” Morant said after Saturday’s home loss to the Lakers, via Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “Everything I’ve done in a Grizzlies jersey has been under him. It’s my first time really experiencing a coach leaving since I’ve been hooping.

“It was a lot to process. We had to quickly turn the page to the Lakers, and that’s just the business part of the NBA.”

Jackson admitted he, too, was a little bit stunned.

“That’s my dog. That will forever be my dog,” he said. “It was surprising. It would have been surprising at any point. He had a great impact while he was here. He’s gonna be one of the more sought-after coaches in his journey elsewhere and deservedly so.”

Memphis (44-30) sits in fifth place in the Western Conference standings following the loss to the Lakers (45-29), who are actually two games ahead — as they also own the tiebreaker. If the playoffs started today, the Grizzlies would face Los Angeles in the first round, with LA owning home-court advantage.

Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman offered no real explanation on why Jenkins was fired after six seasons — and at the time, with just nine regular-season games to go. Kleiman added that the players had not been consulted before the decision on Jenkins.