The Grizzlies are naming assistant Tuomas Iisalo as interim coach after the stunning dismissal of head coach Taylor Jenkins, per Shams Charania of ESPN.
Why Memphis made the move with nine games remaining and the playoff picture still very much up in the air is anyone’s guess. The Grizzlies aren’t really saying.
Iisalo was one of multiple new assistants hired by Memphis during the offseason, when they revamped the entire coach staff, sans Jenkins. But this experience won’t be new. Iisalo served as acting coach when Jenkins was away from the team due to a death in the family in November.
Iisalo is a native of Finland and played there as a pro from 2000-14 before getting into coaching. He has been a coach in Finland and Germany (2016-23), before heading to France to coach Paris Basketball.
He was named Coach of the Year in Germany twice and again in France in 2024. Paris Basketball won the EuroCup championship last season with Iisalo at the helm.
We can assume the Grizzlies will perform a fairly comprehensive search after the season (though there’s now no indication this is a franchise that will wait around for anything) — but Iisalo is about ready to make his case for the job on a full-time basis.
As with most things, it will all come down to winning. Or in the case of Jenkins, who won a lot when the team was healthy, perhaps something else.
“I’m genuinely appreciative of Taylor’s contributions to this team and this city over the past six seasons,” Grizzlies president/GM Zach Kleiman said in a press release. “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.”
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