Ja Morant opens up about Grizzlies firing Taylor Jenkins: ‘It’s tough for me’

Guard Ja Morant suited up for the first time since the Memphis Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins when Memphis faced off against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. The Grizzlies announced abruptly on Friday the decision to part ways with Jenkins after he served as the head coach of Memphis for five-plus seasons.

Morant recently opened up on the Grizzlies’ choice to can Jenkins and revealed that the change hasn’t been easy on him. Jenkins led the Grizzlies from the sidelines for the entirety of Morant’s NBA career until he was let go earlier in the week.

“It’s tough for me,” Morant said. “I’ve had Coach Taylor since I got here. Everything I’ve done in a Grizzlies jersey has pretty much been under him. It’s my first time really experiencing a coach leaving since I’ve been hooping. It was a lot to process. With the timing, it’s just tough. We had to quickly turn the page.”

The timing of the move to sack Jenkins is what made the firing so surprising to some people. Memphis dismissed Jenkins with less than 10 games remaining in its regular-season schedule, and the start of the 2025 NBA Playoffs is only weeks away at this juncture.

The Grizzlies were reeling in the tail end of Jenkins’ tenure, as they lost four of their last five games prior to him getting fired. But at the same time, Memphis was without arguably its best player in Morant for the entirety of that subpar stretch. His 22-point performance against the Lakers on March 29 marked his first game played for the Grizzlies in over two weeks.

Memphis was a consistent playoff contender under Jenkins. The Grizzlies made three playoff appearances during his time leading the team and were on track for a fourth this season prior to his departure. Memphis also won one playoff series with him as its head coach and had its best playoff run with him in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, when the Grizzlies eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round and then took a Golden State Warriors team that went on to win that year’s title to six games.

Finland native Tuomas Iisalo is serving as Jenkins’ replacement, and maybe Memphis will be able to reach new heights now that a different face is patrolling the sidelines.

The Grizzlies should be focused on securing a seed that will grant them home-court advantage in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Currently, they’re just one game back of the Los Angeles Lakers for the Western Conference’s No. 4 spot.