NBA News Wire
Report: Grizzlies owner improved Joerger’s contract
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Memphis Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger decided to stay with the team because owner Robert Pera sweetened the terms of his contract, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Joerger watched Pera fire two of the team’s top executives after a 50-win season and was reportedly expected to take the Minnesota Timberwolves job.
However, Pera persuaded Joerger to stay with an improved deal.
Also, the Timberwolves were reportedly reluctant to surrender significant assets for a coach that the Grizzlies apparently were ready to let go. Joerger, a Minnesota native, is close to Timberwolves president Flip Saunders and interviewed with owner Glen Taylor on Saturday.
The news that Joerger decided to stay came as a surprise given earlier reports that Joerger and the Wolves were close to a deal and the Grizzlies were interested in ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy for a president-and-coach role similar to what the Detroit Pistons gave his brother, Stan Van Gundy.
In Joerger’s first season as the head coach in Memphis, the team went 50-32 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
According to ESPN.com, it was not clear if Jeff Van Gundy wanted to take on such a large role. Van Gundy, who coached the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets before going into television, generally does not publicly discuss job openings.
The Grizzlies let coach Lionel Hollins go after advancing to the Western Conference finals last year and replaced him with Joerger. Pera ousted CEO Jason Levien assistant general manager Stu Lash last week.
