The Memphis Grizzlies have lost four of their last five games, but they made the headlines for the wrong reasons after their sole win in that time, too. During a timeout in the Grizzlies’ 140-103 win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, Desmond Bane shoved teammate Santi Aldama, and The Athletic has now learned what led to the incident.
Desmond Bane: “Are you gonna f***ing guard anybody?”
Santi Aldama: “F*** you.”
Bane: “No, f*** you. Play harder.”
The Jazz were having their way with the Grizzlies offensively at the start of this game. They shot 12-20 (60%) from the field and 7-12 (58.3%) from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
The Jazz, one of the worst teams in the NBA, would lead by as many as 14 points in the first half, and it would appear Bane’s frustrations boiled over. A fourth straight defeat seemed to be on the cards for the Grizzlies, and the guard wanted more effort out of Aldama. The big man didn’t take too kindly to that question, though.
While Bane shoving Aldama in response wasn’t ideal, the Grizzlies did get their act together eventually. They went on to crush the Jazz in the second half, but the win didn’t exactly prove to be a turning point.
The Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Grizzlies 125-104 in their next game on Thursday, and that loss was the final nail in head coach Taylor Jenkins’ coffin. The Grizzlies shockingly fired Jenkins on Friday, with his assistant Tuomas Iisalo taking over as interim head coach.
While Jenkins’ firing and the incident between Bane and Aldama might not be related, it does indicate that there might have been a fair bit of tension behind the scenes. A season that had promised much was going south and could have led to some friction.
The Grizzlies entered the All-Star break with an impressive 36-18 record, but have gone 8-11 since to drop to 44-29. A significant drop-off defensively is a big reason why. The Grizzlies had a 110.9 defensive rating before the All-Star break, and that number has gone up to 116.6 after the break.
The Grizzlies were tumbling down the standings, and GM Zach Kleiman reckons that a head coaching change could fix some of the issues ailing the team.
“I came to the conclusion that this is in the best interest of the team and urgency is a core principle of ours, so I decided to go on with the move,” Kleiman said.
You don’t often see head coaches get fired just weeks before the playoffs, especially if the team is 15 games over .500. Time will tell if this was the right move. This will be looked at as a masterstroke if the Grizzlies go on a deep playoff run, but that does seem unlikely at this point.
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