David Fizdale's short-lived stint as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies wasn't short of anecdotes from his clash with star center Marc Gasol.
According to Peter Vecsey of Patreon, the former coach had been talking about Gasol behind his back, something the Spaniard soon found out, which came back to bite him at the end.
“In other words, to be unreservedly blunt, Fizdale effectively quit, with pay, no less; he’s on the Grizzlies’ books for $2.5 million guaranteed this season and next “I cannot remember another coach in NBA history who quit so early in his career,” muttered a retired lifer of the sidelines.
“The first thing you learn when you become an NBA coach is to come to an understanding with the team’s elite players,” the above retired lifer stated, “The second is not to pit players against each other. They will take sides, but inevitably will side against the coach. Fizdale would say stuff about Gasol behind his back to his teammates. By the time, he was ready to say what he had to say in front of the whole team, Gasol already had been alerted.”
While this might only be league-wide hearsay, Gasol has also been pointed at for the firing of former Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger, one which has earned him the label of “coach killer” around some mediums, and put his reputation as a star in this league with quite a big asterisk for league executives.
It's tough to know if there is any veracity to these conflicts, but those close to the team have assured there was a rocky relationship between the two, something general manager Chris Wallace confirmed during the announcement of J.B. Bickerstaff as the head coach for the remainder of the season.
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