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."