"Why would they even fire Nick Nurse?" - NBA fans abuzz as 76ers emerge as top suitor for Taylor Jenkins after Grizzlies’ shocking firing

The NBA community was taken aback after the Memphis Grizzlies announced on Friday that they have decided to part ways with Taylor Jenkins. ESPN's Shams Charania broke the news to the community on Friday via an X post.

The NBA Central covered the news and shared a list of teams with the best chances to acquire Jenkins after the Grizzlies let him go. They sourced the data from Bovada and according to it, the Philadelphia 76ers had the highest odds of landing Jenkins as their next head coach.

However, the fans were left confused and expressed their opinions on the subject in the post's comment section. One fan posed a question on Taylor Jenkins' firing and blamed the Grizzlies' player for not being healthy.

"Why would they even fire Nick nurse? It's not his fault his players can't stay healthy," one fan said.

Other fans joined the bandwagon and expressed similar sentiments in their comments.

"Im so confused on why they fired him. They been great all season," one fan said.

"Nick Nurse is a way better coach than Jenkins," another fan said.

"so they’d fire nick nurse for jenkins??? why," one fan said.

Another set of fans used the speculation as an opportunity to troll Joel Embiid.

"Can he fix Embiid I doubt it 🤣🤣🤣," one fan said.

"Nobody wants to coach a broken Embiid. Come on home Taylor," another fan said.

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Why did the Memphis Grizzlies fire Taylor Jenkins?

The Memphis Grizzlies have taken a bold step in the final stages of the regular season as firing a coach right before the post-season is an uncommon scenario in the league. To make matters more confusing, Taylor Jenkins was doing great with the Grizzlies. He had a .539 career winning percentage and had led the Bears to a 44-29 record in the 2024-25 season.

At one point in the season, the Grizzlies were dominating the Western Conference and were among the top three teams in the West's standings. They are now No. 5 in the standings and if the season were to end today, they would still secure a playoff spot without needing to participate in the Play-In competition.

On Friday, Shams Charania reported that Jenkins was fired in person. He had a record of 250-214 as the Grizzlies coach, which is the most in franchise history. The reasons behind Jenkins' firing have not been revealed as the Grizzlies have yet to comment on it. However, they have named Tuomas Lisalo, the assistant coach as the interim coach for the meantime.

Taylor Jenkins, on the other hand, will be entering this offseason as the most sought-after head coach in the league. He had done incredible work at the Grizzlies and many franchises would want to have his services.