The Memphis Grizzlies have fired their head coach Dave Joerger after three seasons, the organization announced Saturday morning.
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“The decision was made because I believe you need a deeply committed leadership team in order to establish the strong culture needed for sustainable long-term success”, Wallace said in the team-conducted interview in which, truth be told, there were more answers in the questions than there were in the answers themselves.
According to Yahoo Sports, Joerger was seeking permission to talk to other teams about their open coaching positions before being fired. Joerger went to the Grizzlies and asked permission to speak to the Kings about their job opening. It was in the best interests of the Grizzlies’ 2016-17 season that Joerger be let go now. Meanwhile, two teams where Joerger is expected to interview are the Rockets and the Kings.
Reports have indicated Joerger recently received permission to talk with other National Basketball Association teams about vacancies and has allegedly moved to the top of the list for the Sacramento Kings in their hunt for a new coach.
In his three seasons in Memphis after taking over for Lionel Hollins, Joerger amassed a 147-99 regular season record and led the Grizzlies to the playoffs all three seasons.
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Joerger spent three years in Memphis, leading the Grizzlies to the playoffs all three seasons. To me, this is all about the relationship he’s had with the front office-starting the season calling the roster bad, and “making himself hard to work with” (the words of one Grizzlies staffer earlier in the season) behind closed doors. This time, despite the Grizzlies finishing with a 42-40 record that was so impressive after their relentless run of injuries, it’s the Kings job that Joerger covets. According to the New York Post, the New York Knicks have also reached out to Vogel’s representatives as well.
