Rumors have been swirling that there is some kind of rift between Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins and their star forward Zach Randolph. It was even hinted at during a recent Grizzlies broadcast.
But the two say there is nothing to it.
They both spoke to the Commercial Appeal.“Our relationship is fine,” Randolph said. “I respect my coach.”
“The only beef I had with Zach is he was excessively late for a shootaround that started at 4:30 p.m. (last Saturday),” Hollins said. “I told him I can’t start you and he understood. Everybody’s got their opinion about what goes on in our locker room. But only the people in there know. I haven’t had a beef with Zach and he hasn’t had one with me.”
Randolph’s numbers have been down lately — in his last five games he is scoring 11.4 points a game (down from his season average of 15.5) and is shooting just 37.7 percent (46.5 percent for season). His rebounding and other numbers are off as well.
But that’s not about a feud with the coach, Hollins said.
Go ahead and add this to your list of questions about whether Hollins will be back next season. Hollins already slammed NBA advanced statistics after a numbers guy just bought the team and reshaped the front office, if he’s having issues with players that adds to it. But in the end, if Memphis wins he’ll be back. It’s that simple.