The Memphis Grizzlies are currently riding an 11-game losing streak that included an Achilles injury to star point guard Mike Conley, and the firing of head coach David Fizdale. Interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is 0-3 since he took the reigns, and basketball in Memphis is unlikely to improve until Conley is healthy.
The Fizdale firing opened up a can of worms that Memphis clearly wasn’t ready for. Regardless of reality, perception is that an internal beef between Marc Gasol and Fizdale, a relationship that was reportedly so bad that the two hadn’t talked in 10 months, was the main reason for Fizdale’s firing. Gasol claims that he knows the “actual truth” behind Fizdale’s firing, but wouldn’t reveal it. And now, Grizzlies minority owners have triggered a clause that could force controversial majority owner Robert Pera to sell the team. The last month has been a nightmare in Memphis.
While you probably can’t put the entirety of Memphis’ struggles on Mike Conley’s injury, the fact that the entire organization is falling apart while Conley is on the shelf is dubious. Did Fizdale get a raw deal considering he was missing the teams’ on-court leader? Would Marc Gasol’s newfound ‘coach killer’ label exist had Conley been healthy? Would minority ownership be trying to wrestling the franchise away from Pera had none of this happened? We don’t know the answer to any of those questions, but Conley believes he does.
In a fascinating interview with Conley and the Memphis media, the injured point guard revealed that he believes had he not been injured, none of this would have happened.
Transcript via Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal:
It’s been stressful because it’s literally all out of my hands. I can’t control anything. I can’t be on the court to help. I can’t be there to console guys. It’s very hard to sit and watch because I know that we wouldn’t be in this position if I was playing. That’s why I feel some kind of accountability for this whole thing. It’s definitely hard on me. I know that we’re not the team we’ve been over the last couple of weeks. I know when I get back, we’ll be a completely different team.
Conley’s comments are eerily similar to comments DeMarcus Cousins made when the Sacramento Kings fired Michael Malone back in 2014. Malone was fired during a losing streak similar to Fizdale’s, during a time where Cousins was out for an extended period with Viral Meningitis. Much like Fizdale, you could argue that Malone had earned more time with his team at full-strength before the Kings sent him packing, but unstable ownership and a dysfunctional organization will get you where the Kings were, and where Memphis is right now.
On Gasol’s relationship with Fizdale, Conley said, “They had their differences at different times during the year. That happens with any coach. It just so happens that their relationship wasn’t at its best at the time we needed it to be, especially when the microscope was on us and we’re losing games. Unfortunately, it got to this point. Who knows how it could’ve been fixed if the decision (to fire Fizdale) didn’t get made? It is what it is. We just have to deal with it.”
Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, it’s likely going to stay ugly for the foreseeable future, as Conley couldn’t provide a timetable for his return to the court.
