Cleveland Cavaliers superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade reacted to the firing of David Fizdale as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. On their respective Twitter account, James and Wade said they both need answers about Fizdale’s firing, which came after the Grizzlies dropped to 7-12 this season following their eighth straight loss. James believes that Fizdale became the fall guy for the Grizzlies’ slump while Wade exclaimed “WTF” upon learning of the firing.

Fizdale was tight with both James and Wade as he was an assistant coach with the Miami Heat during the time of the two superstars there.

Cavaliers point guard Isaiah Thomas called the firing “a joke” while Grizzlies veteran Vince Carter tweeted “wow” after the Grizzlies decided to part ways with Fizdale.

Fizdale was hired by the Grizzlies as head coach in 2016, leading the team to a 43-39 record and a spot in the playoffs, where they pushed the San Antonio Spurs to six games. This season, the Grizzlies had a good start to the season, but an injury to point guard Mike Conley threw them in disarray. The Grizzlies also lost veterans Tony Allen and Zach Randolph to free agency in the summer.

Fizdale fired after Gasol’s benching

Fizdale’s firing came one day after he benched All-Star center Marc Gasol in their loss to the Brooklyn Nets Sunday (Nov.

26). According to Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace, the firing had nothing to do with Gasol’s benching, saying the front office decided to make the necessary change to give the team the best chance to succeed this season moving forward. Earlier, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Fizdale had a tepid relationship with Gasol.

Jonathan Givony of Draft Express said the firing of Fizdale was inevitable as he had some confrontation with Gasol during practice. Yahoo Sports' Chris Mannix reported that Gasol opened up about his issues with Fizdale with Conley and Randolph, who now plays for the Sacramento Kings. Wallace said associate head coach J.B. Bickerstaff will serve as interim head coach.

Gasol denies hand in Fizdale’s firing

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Gasol denied having a hand in the firing of Fizdale. Tillery said Gasol told him that he only spoke to team owner Robert Pera after the Grizzlies fired Fizdale. According to Tillery, the Grizzlies have no plans of trading Gasol as they already dismissed offers from other teams. The 33-year-old Gasol can opt out of his deal with the Grizzlies after the 2018-19 season.
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