Larry Kuzniewski
David Fizdale
After the Grizzlies’ eighth straight loss last night, in which things finally boiled over and David Fizdale sat Marc Gasol for the whole fourth quarter, the Grizzlies have fired David Fizdale. Associate head coach JB Bickerstaff will serve as his interim.
Fizdale came to the Grizzlies as a highly-regarded coaching prospect, and he probably remains one, but he and Marc Gasol never really meshed—I guess we can start talking about that more now—and the disconnect between the two of them, and between their philosophies, has been apparent on the court throughout the Grizzlies’ losing streak (and maybe also before). Now, it seems, the Griz organization has sided with Gasol.
My sense is that we’re not getting the whole story on what happened behind the scenes between last night’s press conferences and this news, and we may not for some time yet. Things had to have deteriorated quickly for this to be the move the Grizzlies made, and I cannot yet say that I understand why it was necessary. The Grizzlies are now on their third head coach since the end of the 2013 season when they didn’t renew Lionel Hollins’ contract.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news on Twitter, and it was confirmed by team sources. Bickerstaff was most recently the interim head coach for the Houston Rockets, and is a highly-regarded coaching prospect himself. Hollins was the Grizzlies’ last interim coach.
