Only a couple of days after his firing, more substantial details about the relationship between former Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale and star center Marc Gasol have emerged.
According to Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports, sources told him that the two had very minimal interaction through the better part of the last year.
“Two people with knowledge of the situation say there was little-to-no communication between the two of them for the better part of the past 10 months, with the Sunday night benching in Brooklyn merely a tipping point in a situation that started to go sour quite some time ago. And with the Feb. trade deadline looming, no better way to appease Gasol and quell the league-wide chatter about how he might want out of Memphis than to show him where the organization’s loyalties lie. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.”
While many had known there was a rocky relationship between the two, not many expected it to be this abrupt — almost hostile considering the importance of the relationship between a head coach and the star player.
Fizdale spelled his end in Grind City after benching Gasol for the entire fourth quarter in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. Gasol was 6-of-17 from the field and his replacement unit had managed to bring a 14-point deficit at the end of the third to only four points with eight minutes to go.
Brooklyn stayed the course, winning 98-88 and elongating Memphis' losing streak to eight in a row, which resulted in Fizdale's firing the next morning.
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