Memphis Grizzlies Rumors: J.B. Bickerstaff Met With Players Prior To Being Fired
By Chris Kern
The Memphis Grizzlies shocked the NBA world on Thursday with the firing of J.B. Bickerstaff. He reportedly met with players prior to being fired.
With more reports coming out about this it sure seems as if it is true. It has been reported that J.B. Bickerstaff actually met with players to discuss futures and summer plans to improve prior to his own exit meeting, where he would eventually be fired. The Memphis Grizzlies have decided to make big changes to their organization and firing Bickerstaff is a big part of that.
Sources: J.B. Bickerstaff conducted exit meetings with Grizzlies players today, discussing ways to improve the team and summer expectations — and then went to his own exit meeting with ownership.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 11, 2019
The players really enjoyed playing for him. They had some issues throughout the season, but the group they had to end the season enjoyed playing with each other and for their coach. He helped start a faster, more exciting brand of basketball in Memphis.
Many of the players have spoken out about how much they like playing for him, but it didn’t matter as the Grizzlies organization has decided to move on. Chris Wallace who is the biggest issue was demoted to a scouting role as well.
I’m not saying Bickerstaff is a great coach, but he certainly didn’t get a fair chance, which has become a consistent theme in Memphis with their head coaches. There has been so much drama surrounding their firings of coaches most notably with the firing of David Fizdale after his differences with Marc Gasol escalated.
They need stability in this spot if they’re ever going to build this team back to the level it once was. If they’re going to do that they have to start by bringing back some of these guys with free agency coming up. C.J. Miles made it known that he is planning on picking up his player option, but with these changes maybe he will revisit that decision.
Delon Wright is another guy who shined under Bickerstaff to end the season and he certainly seemed as if he was on his way to re-signing in Memphis. He is a restricted free agent so it isn’t just up to him, but this could lead to him trying to go get a big contract somewhere else.
Then we have Jonas Valanciunas, who has made it known how much he enjoyed playing for J.B. Bickerstaff. He was playing some of the best basketball of his career prior to his injury and he credited Bickerstaff for a lot of that.
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Valanciunas has a $17.6 million player option that he certainly will consider. He also has the option to test his value in free agency in hopes of signing a long-term deal. He is expected to be back in Memphis next season, but after these moves anything is possible.
All of these guys enjoyed playing in Memphis since they were traded at the trade deadline in the deal that sent Marc Gasol to Toronto. They were all given chances to play a larger role and they all took advantage and helped this team win.
There isn’t a player on this team that would say something bad about J.B. Bickerstaff and while some may not agree with all the decisions he made, it seemed as if they all respected the job he was doing. It made it fun for them to play basketball when a lot of these players hadn’t been given a chance to play a big role as they did.
Was he really supposed to lead this team to the playoffs? Mike Conley had a big year, but with all the injuries they had they never really had a chance to do so. They got off to a good start, but that turned out to just be a fluke. Maybe Bickerstaff deserved to be fired, but the way they went about it is embarrassing.
dark. Next. J.B. Bickerstaff Fired, Chris Wallace Demoted
Maybe Bickerstaff deserved to be fired, but the way they went about it is embarrassing. It’s just a bad look for an organization that has made plenty of bad decisions in the past. They have a chance to right the ship and turn this organization around, but they can’t afford more organizational and head coaching turnover, they need to get this fixed this offseason.