MEMPHIS — Tuomas Iisalo has won as a head coach. Now, in his first season in the NBA, he’s been thrust into the position as interim head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, who are on track to make the playoffs with less than 10 games left in the regular season.
His first game as the interim head coach was unsuccessful as the Grizzlies fell behind by 20 points early, fought back, but ultimately lost 134-127 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
“A lot of times, you don’t know what happened during the game before you watch video,” Iisalo said after the loss. “I can already say we (didn’t do) the basics in the first half, so we’ve got to do a better job.”
The 42-year-old native of Helsinki, Finland, has one plan: Take it one day at a time.
Iisalo got the job Friday, hours after general manager Zach Kleiman fired sixth-year head coach Taylor Jenkins. Kleiman defended the stunning timing of the firing as being in the Grizzlies’ best interests. Two assistants also left with Jenkins, leaving Iisalo short-handed against the Lakers.
After the Grizzlies’ morning shootaround, Kleiman told reporters that a core principle is urgency in explaining why he fired Jenkins.
Asked if he hopes making this move now, with the Grizzlies starting a stretch with eight of the final nine opponents either playoff clubs or contending for a play-in spot, helps Memphis salvage the season, Kleiman said he is focused on how the team operates. It’s still possible, at least mathematically, that Memphis could get back to No. 2 in the Western Conference standings, and it’s highly unlikely it will fall into the play-in tournament range.
“I’m responsible for everything,” Kleiman said. “I’m responsible for coaching. I’m responsible for the roster. I’m not trying to absolve myself of anything. I’m excited to see what this team can do the rest of the way, but this was the conclusion that I came to that this was in the best interest of the team and we push forward with this group.”
Kleiman said no players were consulted about the move to fire Jenkins. The Grizzlies were off Friday, and those in the locker room before tipoff called the move surprising. GG Jackson said he was brushing his teeth when friends started calling, asking if a firing he knew nothing about was true.
Reserve guard Scotty Pippen also was shocked to learn the news on social media.
Pippen said the Grizzlies have not played well recently, returning home after a 1-4 road trip capped by Thursday night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have already wrapped up the conference’s No. 1 seed for the playoffs. He pointed to competitiveness as an issue talked about at team meetings.
“We all kind of know it’s kind of the elephant in the room,” Pippen said. “Just like we’re not playing as well as we need to be playing defensively, offensively. And teams are making us pay for it.”
Kleiman helped hire Jenkins in June 2019 after his own promotion to executive vice president of basketball operations. The GM did not answer a question about what he wants from the team’s next coach.
Jenkins had been the fifth-longest-tenured coach with his current club in the NBA, but with a maturing roster in his sixth season, the Grizzlies’ results against the NBA’s best weren’t good.
And the coach had been criticized for continuing to use too many players at a point in the schedule when the rotation needed to be tightened, as well as questioned for his late-game timeouts and other strategic decisions. Asked about reports of two-time NBA All-Star selection Ja Morant’s frustration with the Memphis offense, Kleiman repeated the firing was his decision.
Morant, who had missed the last six games with a left hamstring strain, played against the Lakers. He said that while he was glad to be back on the court, having a different voice talking in the huddle was a change he didn’t expect. Jenkins had been his coach since Morant was drafted with the second overall pick in 2019.
“It’s tough for me,” Morant said after the loss to the Lakers. “I had Coach Taylor since I got here. Everything I’ve done in a Grizzlies jersey has been under him. That’s always tough. It’s my first time really experiencing a coach leaving since I’ve been hooping.
“It was a lot to process.”
Now Iisalo takes over. He came to the NBA as a Grizzlies assistant this season as the league’s first coach who was born in Finland. Iisalo played and coached in Europe, including in 2024 when he was head coach of Paris Basketball, winning the EuroCup and honors as that league’s coach of the year. He also coached two clubs in Germany — Telekom Baskets Bonn from 2021-23 and Crailsheim Merlins from 2016 to 2021.
As for whether he wants the job in Memphis past this season, Iisalo said he is only worried about the team, the stretch run and making this late change as seamless as possible.
One day at a time.
“There’s no reason to be going to the future,” Iisalo said.
But he saw improvement after the Grizzlies got off to a bad start in Saturday’s game, a theme all too common.
“I thought it was encouraging,” Iisalo said of the performance against the Lakers. “The goal of the game is to win … but it was encouraging to me after that lackluster start, we did a lot of things a lot better in the second half.”