Taylor Vetter Jenkins (born September 12, 1984) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach who was most recently the head coach for the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA).

Early life and education

Jenkins attended the St. Mark's School of Texas in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. He was a two-time

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on their basketball team, where he played as an undersized forward. He studied at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and earned a Bachelor's of Science in economics while concentrating in management and minoring in psychology. He did not play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Coaching career

Jenkins interned with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

basketball operations department during the 2007–08 season. Jenkins worked as an assistant coach for the Spurs'

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

affiliate, the

Austin Toros Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, from 2008 to 2012. The Toros won the NBA D-League championship in 2012. Jenkins was appointed as head coach for the 2012–13 season and led the Toros to a 27–23 (.540) record and a first-round playoff victory over the Bakersfield Jam before falling to the

Santa Cruz Warriors The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior to ...

in the semifinals. On July 11, 2013, Jenkins was hired as an assistant coach for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

under head coach

Mike Budenholzer Michael Vincent Budenholzer (born August 6, 1969) is an American professional basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Budenholzer previously head coached the M ...

. The Hawks reached the playoffs four consecutive years including a trip to the NBA Eastern Conference finals in 2015. Jenkins helped develop four of the Hawks 2015 starting five into NBA All-Stars (four starters appeared on the 2015 NBA All-Star roster). Jenkins later followed Budenholzer to be an assistant for the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

during the

2018–19 NBA season The 2018–19 NBA season was the 73rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 16, 2018, and ended on April 10, 2019. The 2019 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 17, 2019, at Spectrum Center ...

. The Bucks finished with a league best 60 wins, and clinched the #1 spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time in 45 years. His name was brought into the spotlight when an ESPN clip showed Jenkins springing up from the bench to hold the players back during a small on-court scuffle. The video led to a profile of him in ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

''. Jenkins also served as an assistant coach for the NBA Eastern Conference All-Star Team and NBA World Team (Rising Stars) in 2015. Also, in August 2016, Jenkins participated in the Americas Team Camp presented by Nike in Mexico City. The camp consisted of four days of basketball drills and competition conducted by NBA players and coaches.

Memphis Grizzlies

On June 11, 2019, the

hired Jenkins as their new head coach. The Memphis '' Commercial Appeal'' called the hire a "defining moment for owner

Robert Pera Robert J. Pera (born March 10, 1978) is the founder of Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. a global communications technology company that he took public in 2011. In October 2012, Pera also became the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketba ...

," as well as the front office. Jenkins was named the Western Conference's Coach of the Month in both January 2020 and December 2021. In 2022, the Grizzlies won their division for the first time in franchise history. On June 13, 2022, the Grizzlies signed Jenkins to a multi-year contract extension. On March 28, 2025, the Grizzlies fired Jenkins after six seasons with the team, with only nine games remaining in the 2024–25 regular season and the Grizzlies having all but secured entry into the

2025 NBA playoffs The 2025 NBA playoffs is the ongoing NBA playoffs, postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2024–25 NBA season, 2024–25 season. The playoffs began on April 19 and will end with the conclusion of the 2025 NBA Finals ...

by this time with a 44–29 record at the time.

Head coaching record

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first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Taylor 1984 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Basketball coaches from Texas Memphis Grizzlies head coaches Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches Sportspeople from Arlington, Texas St. Mark's School (Texas) alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni