-June 19/95: Hire HiBrian Winters as head coach. “He was my number one pick all along,” said general manager Jackson. The 43-year-old Winters, who played at South Carolina, was a two-time NBA all-star during nine seasons as a player. He spent the previous nine years as an assistant in Cleveland and then Atlanta with Lenny Wilkens. He was a former assistant at Princeton under Pete Carril in 1984 before joining Wilkens with the Cavaliers in 1986.
Winters receives a three-contract valued a $1.1-million. “I take a lot of pride in what I do and hopefully that will be transcended down to the players,” says Winters. Winters hires Rex Hughes, Lionel Hollins and Jim Powell as assistants.
-January 24/97: Grizzlies fire Brian Winters as coach. He is (23-102) at the helm. General manager Stu Jackson will coach the Grizzlies through the remainder of the season. He is (6-23) at the helm.
-April 23/97: Fire assistant coaches Rex Hughes and Jimmy Powell.
-June 26/97: On NBA entry draft day, the Grizzlies hire Brian Hill as coach. Hired for a four-year term, Hill had been run out of Orlando a year earlier in a player’s revolt. He had a 24-25 mark when he was fired February 18 following a February 12 dust-up with Magic point guard Brian Shaw. At a subsequent players meeting, all 12 players voted for an immediate coaching changes. Five days later, Hill was fired by General manager John Gabriel. Hill had a .647 (191-104) record in three and half seasons at the Magic helm. He had joined the Magic as an assistant in their second year of operations and replaced Matt Goukas as head coach prior to 1993-94 season. Hill hires Jim Boylan and Jack Nolan as assistants. Boylan, point guard at Marquette in 1977 NCAA championship season, was an assistant to Mike Fratello for the Cleveland Cavaliers for past five years. Boylan, also a former assistant to Jud Heathcote at Michigan State, spent the previous season as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks after toiling eight years as a scout and video co-ordinator for the Atlanta Hawks.
-December 16/99: Fire Brian Hill after a 4-18 start on the season. He is (31-123) in his years at the Grizzlie helm.
Assistant coach Lionel Hollins is elevated to the top position. The Arizona State graduate played for 10 seasons with five teams in the NBA. An assistant to the three previous Grizzlie coaches, Winters, Jackson and Hill. “The players themselves – like coaches, staff and management – have to take accountability for making this change,” general manager Jackson said. “We’re all certainly at fault and in no means want to imply that the players are good enough and the coach wasn’t. Our team is our most talented and deepest team we’ve had. We have very capable players. I think our issue is the summation of the parts.” With the firing, Hill’s NBA coaching record slips to 222-227. Hollins was drafted 6th overall by the Portland Trailblazers and helped them win an NBA title in 1977.
-May 8/00: Interim coach Lionel Hollins is fired. He is (18-42) at the Grizzlies helm.
-June 1/00: The Grizzlies name former Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Sidney Lowe as head coach and Andy Dolich as president of business operations. Lowe’s contract is worth US$7-million over four years. The 40-year-old Lowe had a disastrous stint as Minnesota’s head coach six years earlier, finishing 33-120. He then spent five years as an assistant to Mike Fratello at Cleveland before returning to Minnesota a year ago as an assistant. A member of the victorious N.C. State team which captured the NCAA title in 1984? Lowe later hires Scott Roth, Michael Adams and Bob Staak as assistant coaches.