Grizzlies reportedly making staff changes for next….
Another Western Conference team is cleaning house on its coaching staff.
Kelly Iko of The Athletic reported Monday that the Memphis Grizzlies are shaking things up on the staff of head coach Taylor Jenkins. While Jenkins will remain in place, the Grizzlies have let go of several assistant coaches in a restructuring of Jenkins’ staff for the 2024-25 season.
The move comes as the Grizzlies, who were a No. 2 seed in 2022-23, went a dismal 27-55 this season. That was by far their worst finish in Jenkins’ five seasons in charge (and only netted them the No. 9 overall pick in this year’s draft to boot).
Granted, Memphis’ poor season was probably far from a coaching-staff failure. The Grizzlies lost an NBA-high 592 games due to injury this season and were trotting out some truly ridiculous lineups at one point because of how shorthanded they were.
The staff also did well to develop some of its young pieces (such as GG Jackson, Ziaire Williams and Vince Williams Jr.) into viable NBA contributors in spite of the lost season.
Nevertheless, the Grizzlies have decided to make some widespread changes. The hope will be that a new batch of assistants can navigate certain aspects of the job better, including whatever is going on with star player Ja Morant.
The Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame Museum has unveiled a brand-new interactive hologram of blues musician Taj Mahal, making it the first museum in Tennessee and second in the United States to have a full-body hologram, says Blues Foundation CEO and president Kimberly Horton.
Houston says when she found out about Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame’s hologram of philanthropist Ernie Boch Jr., whose personal collection of guitars were on display at the museum at the time, she knew she “had to have one for Memphis.”
The Blues Foundation’s first hologram features Blues Hall of Famer Taj Mahal. “It’s him. Like he’s actually sitting in there, actually sitting in the [holographic] box,” Houston says. “You could actually have a full conversation.”
That means that guests can ask whatever question comes to mind, and the hologram, which has been trained with AI, will generate a response as Mahal himself would answer. “We had Taj Mahal sit still for 12 hours one day and just asked him all these questions, about 250 questions, and filmed him while he was doing that,” Houston explains. “So this is his voice. And these are his mannerisms. These are his hand movements.”
From the beginning, Houston says she knew Mahal would be a part of the debut of the permanent exhibition, which will spotlight other artists in the future. “He’s just great,” she says. “When it comes to music, he’s multi-Grammy-winning. He has touched every genre of the industry. He’s got his hand in everything. Taj will be 82 this month, so it was imperative that he was the first person that was in the hologram.”
After all, Houston says, “If you want to preserve something or preserve history, then what better way to do it?”
The Blues Hall of Fame Museum is located at 421 South Main Street. Admission is $10/adults, $8/students, and free for kids 12 and under. There is an additional charge of $10 to interact with the hologram. Museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
