TheMemphis Grizzlies are an American professionalbasketball team based inMemphis,Tennessee. The Grizzlies play in theSouthwest Division of theWestern Conference of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). The team was founded inVancouver,British Columbia in 1995 along with theToronto Raptors as part of the NBA'sexpansion into Canada. The Grizzlies and the Raptors became the first non-United States teams to join the NBA since 1946.[1] After spending six seasons in Vancouver, the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis in the2001–02 season.[2] The Grizzlies have played their home games at theFedExForum since 2004.[3] The Grizzlies were owned byMichael Heisley and several locals including J. R. Hyde, Andy Cates, andElliot Perry.[4]
There have been 11head coaches for the Grizzlies franchise. The franchise's first head coach wasBrian Winters, who coached for two seasons.[5]Lionel Hollins is the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season games coached (415),Taylor Jenkins is the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season game wins (215).[6]Hubie Brown is the only Grizzlies head coach to have won theNBA Coach of the Year Award.[7] Brown was inducted into theBasketball Hall of Fame as a contributor,[a] in 2005.[8]Tony Barone andMarc Iavaroni have spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Grizzlies.[9][10][11] Iavaroni was fired by the Grizzlies on January 22, 2009. Hollins was named as Iavaroni's successor, thoughJohnny Davis was the head coach for two games before Hollins' third term with the team.[12] On May 7, 2016,Dave Joerger was fired by the Grizzlies.[13] On May 29, 2016,David Fizdale was hired by the Grizzlies.[14] Fizdale was fired on November 27, 2017.
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches[a] |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Grizzlies |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the2024–25 season.
| # | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
| Vancouver Grizzlies | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Brian Winters | 1995–1997 | 125 | 23 | 102 | .184 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [5] | ||||
| 2 | Stu Jackson | 1997 | 39 | 6 | 33 | .154 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [15] | ||||
| 3 | Brian Hill | 1997–1999 | 154 | 31 | 123 | .201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [16] | ||||
| 4 | Lionel Hollins | 1999–2000 | 60 | 18 | 42 | .300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [6] | ||||
| 5 | Sidney Lowe | 2000–2001 | 82 | 23 | 59 | .280 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [17] | ||||
| Memphis Grizzlies | |||||||||||||||
| — | Sidney Lowe | 2001–2002 | 90 | 23 | 67 | .256 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [17] | ||||
| 6 | Hubie Brown | 2002–2004 | 168 | 83 | 85 | .494 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | NBA Coach of the Year (2003–04)[7] | [8] | |||
| — | Lionel Hollins | 2004 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [6] | ||||
| 7 | Mike Fratello | 2004–2006 | 178 | 95 | 83 | .534 | 8 | 0 | 8 | .000 | [18] | ||||
| 8 | Tony Barone* | 2006–2007 | 52 | 16 | 36 | .308 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [9] | ||||
| 9 | Marc Iavaroni* | 2007–2009 | 123 | 33 | 90 | .268 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [10] | ||||
| 10 | Johnny Davis | 2009 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [19] | ||||
| — | Lionel Hollins | 2009–2013 | 351 | 196 | 155 | .558 | 35 | 18 | 17 | .514 | [6] | ||||
| 11 | Dave Joerger | 2013–2016 | 246 | 147 | 99 | .598 | 22 | 9 | 13 | .409 | [11] | ||||
| 12 | David Fizdale | 2016–2017 | 101 | 50 | 51 | .495 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | [20] | ||||
| 13 | J. B. Bickerstaff | 2017–2019 | 145 | 48 | 97 | .331 | — | — | — | – | [21] | ||||
| 14 | Taylor Jenkins* | 2019–2025 | 464 | 250 | 214 | .539 | 23 | 9 | 14 | .391 | [22] | ||||
| 15 | Tuomas Iisalo* | 2025–present | 9 | 4 | 5 | .444 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | |||||
