Steve Kaplan and Daniel Straus exercised their buy-sell provision in their ownership agreement of the Memphis Grizzlies with Robert Pera.

Kaplan and Straus are minority owners with Pera the controlling owner.

Pera will have to decide whether to buy out Kaplan and/or Straus to keep control of the team or sell his shares at the set price and remove himself from the ownership group.

Pera was forced to bring on Kaplan and Straus after his Ubiquiti Networks tech company took a significant plunge. Pera's net worth has since recovered and more than doubled since purchasing the Grizzlies.

Pera is rarely in Memphis to attend games and his level of involvement with the franchise has drawn questions.

Sources say Pera's absentee approach has led to tension with minority owners. 

Kaplan attempted to buy the Wolves from Glen Taylor but that deal fell through. Kaplan also was outbid for the Hawks in 2015.

Several players on the Memphis Grizzlies reportedly didn't like David Fizdale as a coach as much as many outsiders assumed.

"The Grizzlies are like a Hollywood set," a person familiar with the team's dynamics told Bleacher Report. "A lot of facade and nothing behind it."

Fizdale pushed his longstanding disharmony with Marc Gasol into the public with his fourth quarter benching on Sunday. Fizdale was fired on Monday.

"What it came down to was, he wanted to win the battle: me or Marc Gasol?" the person told B/R. "Well, they let him know who."

The Grizzlies have an ownership situation that needs to be resolved and there has been frequent changes of their head coaches with first Lionel Hollins then Dave Joerger and now Fizdale.

"Gasol had been chafing for a long time," a person familiar with the player's thinking told B/R. "He had two pretty good coaches in Dave and Lionel, and he felt this guy was a little bit of a [phony]."

The issues with Fizdale reportedly extended beyond Gasol.

"It got really nasty," the person familiar with the team dynamics said. "It wasn't this week, and it wasn't just Gasol. This has been going on overlapping from last year, too."

The Memphis Grizzlies have no plans to trade Marc Gasol or Mike Conley.

"We have no intention to trade Marc," Chris Wallace told ESPN. "We never seriously considered that at all. We never placed any calls to any teams in that regard. So that's not happening.

"It's not just Marc that this whole equation is about. It's also Mike Conley, when he comes back. We've got two guys among the elite in the league at their respective positions that are still very much in their window with an awful lot of tread left on their tires."

The Grizzlies have been on a losing streak and fired David Fizdale this week.

Wallace remains optimistic that the Grizzlies can compete for a playoff berth this season.

"We're full speed ahead," Wallace said. "We've been in the playoffs seven years in a row. We've got a team when fully healthy and we get everything together is more athletic, more versatile and more potent offensively than we've had for a number of years. Even though the going has been a little difficult early, there's still 62 [games] to play. We believe in this team. We're hoping -- got our fingers crossed -- that we'll get everybody healthy soon.

"Our expectation always is to be a playoff team and have a chance to do some things when we get in there. We're behind in the standings right now, but it's a long way to go. When we get our guys back, I think we'll surge."

Marc Gasol insisted that he didn't speak out against David Fizdale to management to demand his firing as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Gasol was benched for the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies' loss on Sunday to the Nets and Fizdale was fired the next day. Gasol and Fizdale had a strained working relationship.

“No,” Gasol said. “Not at all.”

Fizdale was in his second season as head coach of Memphis.

“Nobody likes to see a coaching change during the season,” Gasol said. “I was a little bit shocked by it.”

Gasol said he only spoke with Robert Pera after the decision had been made.

“I found out (about the Fizdale firing) from Robert,” Gasol said. “They called me after the decision was made to let me know the direction they were going.

“Nobody likes to be in the situation we’re in. And we were not finding a way to win collectively. We were breaking apart. Me and David didn’t see everything eye-to-eye all the time. But we both had the same intentions of making the team a collective, really strong unit. We couldn’t find a way to do that.”

The Memphis Grizzlies have not yet shopped Marc Gasol and have rebuffed inquiries from rival teams.

Gasol can become a free agent in 2019 and the Grizzlies appear to be on the verge of a rebuild. Memphis re-signed Gasol and Mike Conley to five-year deals in subsequent offseasons as they attempted to remain a playoff contender while also adding Chandler Parsons on a four-year deal.

The Grizzlies fired David Fizdale this week as they attempt to salvage their season following an extended slump.

The Memphis Grizzlies fired David Fizdale one day after he benched Marc Gasol for the fourth quarter of a loss to the Nets.

Gasol was candid with the media about his displeasure with the benching.

There had been serious tension between Fizdale and Gasol throughout their time working together.

“That wasn’t the only reason (for Fizdale’s firing),” the source said. “You want to try to get some traction. We still have time to hopefully fix things and go on a run. We do have injury issues. There’s no question. But we’re just were trending down in several categories. We felt it was time to make a change.”

A source close to the Grizzlies contends Robert Pera said as recently as Saturday that Fizdale's job was safe due to injuries and wanted to see how the team looked once healthy.

During Tuesday's press conference, Chris Wallace asked if Gasol is a coach killer.

"I don't think that's fair at all," said Wallace.

"There was tension between the two. This is a factor but its not the overriding factor. We talked to Marc in real time about the same time we talked to Coach Fizdale."

The Memphis Grizzlies have fired David Fizdale. Memphis has lost 11 out of their 13 past games.

J.B. Bickerstaff will assume head coaching duties on an interim basis.

Fizdale was in his second season as head coach of the Grizzlies after long being one of the league's most highly regarded assistant coaches.

Fizdale benched Marc Gasol for the entire fourth quarter of Sunday's loss to the Nets.

Marc Gasol was angry and baffled by his benching during the Memphis Grizzlies' loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

Memphis has now lost eight games in a row.

David Fizdale said he simply made decision to ride a lineup that cut a 19-point deficit to five points. Gasol said he was never given an explanation by anyone on the coaching staff, and called the benching an “awkward situation.”

“I don’t like it one bit,” Gasol said. “I’m more (angry) than I can show, and frustrated. But for the benefit of the team, I’ve got to show good leadership and continue to do my job.”

Gasol's comments to the media were measured.

"If I start venting, that would be counterproductive,” Gasol said. “But at the end of the day, I'm as competitive as anybody. I hate not playing. That's what I value most. If I'm not out there, I'm not valued. I'm sure they knew that would hurt me the most."

Fizdale said he wasn’t trying to send a message to Gasol.

“We’ll address it if it needs to be addressed but it was a pretty simple decision what I did,” Fizdale said. “It’s nothing against him. I’m trying to win a game. I’m desperate. I took a risk. Sometimes when you take a risk you may (upset) a player or two. That’s part of this position. I can own the decision and I have my reasons why. Winning is my only priority.”

Mike Conley will undergo therapy and treatment to help promote healing and alleviate soreness in his left heel and Achilles following consultations with physicians and the Grizzlies’ medical staff. There is no timetable for his return at this time.

Further updates will be provided in approximately two weeks.

Conley (6-1, 175) has appeared and started in 12 of the Grizzlies’ first 14 games this season and has averaged 17.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.00 steals in 31.1 minutes in his 11th NBA season (all with Memphis).