David Fizdale Is OUT As The Head Coach Of The Memphis Grizzlies

(ESPN) - The Memphis Grizzlies fired coach David Fizdale on Monday afternoon, league sources told ESPN. Associate head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has been promoted to interim head coach, league sources said.

The Grizzlies are on an eight-game losing streak, dropping to 7-12 on the season and Fizdale’s tepid relationship with All-Star center Marc Gasol reached a low point with Gasol’s fourth-quarter benching in a loss to Brooklyn on Sunday night.

The Grizzlies advanced to the Western Conference playoffs a year ago under Fizdale, going 43-39 in the regular season.

Holy shit. To some this may not seem like a big deal, but it’s a pretty big move in terms of the NBA world. Coming off their 8th loss in a row, a loss to the lowly Nets, some might say this is a bit of an overreaction. I mean firing your coach doesn’t seem to really solve any of Memphis’ problems. At least not to me. Is it his fault Mike Conley got hurt? Is it his fault Chandler Parsons has been hurt and is a shell of his former self?

Here’s what we know. We know after yesterday’s game that Marc Gasol was NOT happy, and his benching probably had something to do with it. This to me screams of a situation where ownership had to decide between the happiness of their star player, and their coach. They clearly went with the star player, but Gasol is already 32. How quickly are the Grizzlies going to be able to rebuild into contention that fits his timeline?

A bigger question, is this just the beggining of them completely blowing it up? Is Gasol next on the market? Would someone like CLE be silly enough to give them the BKN pick for him? This whole situation is so weird I’m not sure we’ll ever get answers.

We do know this. David Fizdale is a good coach. A guy who spent decades paying his dues finally got his shot with Memphis,  he went 43-39 in his first year, and lost in the first round in 6 games. Sure they are off to a 7-12 start this year, but again, they’ve been dealing with injuries to key players, and moved on from guys like ZBo and Tony Allen in the offseason. What did ownership expect? I get they are probably tired of being a 1st round exit every year, but you know how you prevent that from happening? You establish stability, and that starts with finding yourself a young good coach. That’s exactly what Fizdale is, which is why this makes little sense to me. I don’t doubt he’ll get another shot fairly quickly. He deserves to be a head coach in the NBA.

At least we’ll always have this 10/10 post game press conference