It caught the Grizzlies players off guard, too.
Nobody expected Memphis to fire coach Taylor Jenkins with just a few weeks left in the regular season — the team had slipped in recent months but was still 15 games over .500 and tied for fourth in the West at the time. It put interim coach Tuomas Iisalo in a difficult position, with little time to make real changes and three tough games coming up against the Lakers (a Grizzlies loss), Celtics and Warriors. After the Lakers loss, Ja Morant was asked about the coaching change (quote via William Guillory of The Athletic).