Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins barely avoided an ejection Friday night in defense of Jaren Jackson Jr. during an altercation with LeBron James.
Jenkins ran onto the court in the middle of Memphis’ 127-113 win over the Lakers, visibly upset about the tussle, and almost collided with Taurean Prince as he stepped out onto the court, which forced the game to stop.
The head coach apologized for getting carried away after the game to Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.
“You can’t do that, so I take full responsibility there,” Jenkins said. “I saw a tussle there, Jaren’s clamping LeBron, then I saw something that crossed the line … I had to stand up for my guy.
The chaos occurred in the third quarter when Marcus Smart attempted to pass the ball to Jackson, who was posting up on James.
Jackson was unable to get control of the ball, which caused the battle between the two while on the floor.
It ended with James in possession, but in doing so, he appeared to hit Jackson in the face with either his elbow or forearm.
Jenkins, who was assessed a technical foul, instantly flailed his arms in the air, screaming about the no-call, leading him to cross the court while play continued and subsequently interrupting the Lakers’ fast break.
His fellow coaches and players surrounded Jenkins, holding him back before the officials quickly hit him with a technical foul.
Jenkins continued to scream at them after the fact as they went to review the play
After a brief review, the referees opted not to give out any further fouls and continued play.
The Grizzlies earned their 12th win of the season (12-23) and Jackson finished out the game after the incident with 31 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks.
That’s my dog,” Jackson said. “He’s been great all season. He’s been great ever since he’s been here. He’s held it down the whole time, and that’s just what he does. He’s one of us, he’s a player’s coach. He’s with us in the den, he’s with us when it gets hard. I expect nothing less. I already knew what he was on. I could hear him when I was on the ground. At all times, I know he’s got my back.”
“I’m glad our guys rallied, obviously got the crowd into it. It was a tie ball game and they took the lead on the technical free throw. But then our guys were just resilient, battling through.”
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