Tuomas Iisalo (born 29 July 1982) is a Finnish 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 and former player who is the head coach of 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 ...

in the

NBA 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 ...

. He previously served as an assistant coach of the Grizzlies under

Taylor Jenkins Taylor Vetter Jenkins (born September 12, 1984) is an American professional basketball coach who was most recently the head coach for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life and education Jenkins attended t ...

. Standing at , Iisalo played as a

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

during his playing career. He also played for the Finland national team.

Playing career

Iisalo grew up in

Loviisa Loviisa (; ; formerly Degerby) is a town in Finland, located on the southern coast of the country. Loviisa is situated in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Loviisa is approximately , while the Loviisa sub-region, sub-regi ...

and played in a youth team of local club Hokki Basket. He started his senior playing career in 2000 with

Kouvot Kouvot is a Finnish professional basketball team based in Kouvola. Founded in 1964, the team plays in the Korisliiga and has won the national championship four times: in 1995, 1999, 2004, and 2016. The team plays at the Mansikka-ahon urheiluhalli ...

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

. As a player, Iisalo also represented Korisliiga clubs

Espoon Honka 237px, Petteri Koponen with Espoon Honka in 2007 Espoon Honka, also known as Honka Playboys, was a basketball club based in Espoo, Finland and it played in Korisliiga. The club was dissolved in 2011 due to financial difficulties. History Espoon ...

and

Torpan Pojat Torpan Pojat, shortened to ToPo, is a basketball club based in Helsinki, Finland. Torpan Pojat has their men's and women's team playing in national 1st division and many minor and junior teams in different age categories. History The club was ...

. He won the

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League ...

with Kouvot in 2009. In his early career, he played for various Finnish youth national teams, and later played 58 games with the Finland senior national team. Iisalo retired after the 2013–14 season.

Coaching career

After the end of his playing career he was appointed as head coach of

Tapiolan Honka Tapiolan Honka is a basketball club based in Espoo, Finland. Their men's team plays in top-tier Korisliiga, after they were promoted from Koripallon I-divisioona, I division A in 2024, and their women's team plays in Naisten Korisliiga. History ...

and was an assistant with Finland U15.

Crailsheim Merlins

In March 2016, he moved to Germany and signed with

Crailsheim Merlins Crailsheim Merlins, currently referred to as Hakro Merlins Crailsheim for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Crailsheim, Germany. Established in 1986, the club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the highest pro ...

in the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

. The team had stuck in the bottom of the table and eventually he could not save the team for the relegation, but extended his deal with Merlins for the upcoming 2016–17 season in

ProA The ProA is the German basketball league system, second-tier Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 16 teams. Officially the ProA is part of the ''2. Basketball Bundesliga'', which consists of the t ...

. A fellow Finnish coach Vesa Vertio was named his assistant. At the end of the 2017–18 ProA season, Crailsheim were promoted back to Bundesliga as the runners-up. In the early 2019, his brother Joonas Iisalo accompanied him as an associate coach of the team. In the following seasons they managed to establish the club in the Bundesliga, and in 2020–21 they guided the Merlins to their first ever Bundesliga playoff berth, with one of the lowest budgets in the league.

Telekom Baskets Bonn

In May 2021, Iisalo inked a two-year deal with fellow Bundesliga side

Telekom Baskets Bonn Telekom Baskets Bonn is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bonn, Germany. The club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, which is German basketball league system, the highest level pro basketball league in Germany. The club's s ...

. In 2022, he was named the Bundesliga Coach of the Year, after finishing 3rd in the regular season with Bonn. Iisalo repeated as the Bundesliga Coach of the Year in the 2022–23 campaign, after leading Bonn to a regular season record of 32 wins and two losses. In May 2023, he won the

FIBA Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefor ...

with Bonn and was presented with the

Basketball Champions League Best Coach The Basketball Champions League (BCL) Best Coach, or FIBA Champions League Best Coach, is in an annual Basketball Champions League awards, award of the Basketball Champions League, which is along with the EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup, one of the two ...

honours. He helped the Bonn team to a trip to the 2023 Bundesliga finals, where they eventually fell short to Ulm. Iisalo parted company with the Bonn club at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Paris Basketball

On 29 June 2023,

Paris Basketball Paris Basketball is a French professional basketball club based in Paris. The club currently plays in the LNB Élite, the first division of basketball in France, and the EuroLeague since 2024–25. Founded in 2018, Paris plays its home games a ...

of the French

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

and the EuroCup announced the appointment of Iisalo as head coach on a three-year deal. In December 2023, Iisalo was named the head coach of the Team World (''Team Monde'') in the

LNB All-Star Game The LNB All-Star Game is the annual All-Star Game that is organised by France's professional club basketball governing body, the LNB. The LNB organizes both of the top two French men's pro club competitions, the top-level LNB Pro A, and the se ...

. On 18 February 2024, Iisalo and Paris won the 2024

LNB Pro A Leaders Cup The Leaders Cup, sometimes referred to as the French Basketball League Cup and previously known as the Tourney des As Cup and Semaine des As Cup, is the annual national league cup competition for teams from the French basketball league system, top- ...

title, by beating

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

90–85 in the final. On 6 April 2024, Iisalo was voted the EuroCup Coach of the Year, leading Paris to the

2024 EuroCup Finals The 2024 EuroCup Finals were the concluding games of the 2023–24 EuroCup season, the 22nd season of Euroleague Basketball's secondary level professional club basketball tournament, the 16th season since it was renamed from the ULEB Cup to the ...

with a record-tying 20 wins and only one loss, with the highest team average (98.4 points per game) in the EuroCup history. On 12 April, Iisalo led Paris Basketball to win the 2023–24 EuroCup title, beating

JL Bourg-en-Bresse Jeunesse Laïque de Bourg-en-Bresse, commonly known as JL Bourg or simply Bourg, is a basketball club based in Bourg-en-Bresse, France that plays in the LNB Élite, the national top division. Their home arena is Ekinox, which has a capacity of 3, ...

with 2–0 wins in the finals, and earning a place for the next season in the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. On 13 May, Iisalo was named the

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

in LNB Pro A, after leading Paris to the record streak of 25 consecutive games unbeaten. He also led Paris to the LNB Pro A Finals in June 2024.

Memphis Grizzlies

On 8 July 2024, 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) named Iisalo as assistant coach, responsible for the team's offense, making him the first Finnish-born coach in the NBA. On 7 November, he debuted as a head coach due to absence of

, leading the Grizzlies to a 131–114 win over the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. On 28 March 2025, Iisalo was promoted to interim head coach after Jenkins was fired, despite Memphis having a 44–29 record and being all but confirmed entry for 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 that time. His first game as head coach in the NBA saw the Grizzlies lose 134–127 to the

a day later. On 2 May 2025, Iisalo was named head coach of the Grizzlies.

Coaching style

According to reports, Iisalo' style has been based on pace, many three-point shots and strong offensive rebounding. In late June 2024, Iisalo was one of the coach lecturers in the Dušan Ivković Basketball Coaching Clinic in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Serbia, teaching offense through variable big men and speaking about the evolution of his pick and roll defence. He was voted the Coach of the Year in Finland in 2024 by the Finnish sports journalists.

Head coaching record

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Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

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Personal life

Iisalo and his wife have three children. Iisalo's father worked as a foreign correspondent in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

in the 1980s. His younger brother Joonas is also a professional basketball coach. Their older sister became a journalist who won the literature prize of

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

in 2021 for the best debut novel in Finland with her book "Sinun, Margot", where she tells the story of a family in East Berlin. Their grandfather Aulis Iisalo fought in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

and in the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

, and was a candidate to receive a

Mannerheim Cross The Mannerheim Cross (, ), officially Mannerheim Cross of the Cross of Liberty (, ) is the most distinguished Finnish military honour. A total of 191 people received the cross between 22 July 1941 and 7 May 1945, with six of the recipients receiv ...

Coaching honours

;International * EuroCup champion: 2023–24 *

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

champion:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

;Domestic * French League Cup winner: 2024 *

runner-up: 2023–24 *

runner-up:

runner-up: 2016–17, 2017–18

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iisalo, Tuomas Living people 1982 births 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Basketball players from Berlin Basketball players from Helsinki Crailsheim Merlins coaches Espoon Honka players Finnish basketball coaches Finnish expatriate basketball coaches Finnish expatriate basketball people in France Finnish expatriate basketball people in Germany Finnish expatriate basketball people in the United States Finnish men's basketball players Kouvot players Memphis Grizzlies assistant coaches Memphis Grizzlies coaches Paris Basketball coaches Shooting guards Tapiolan Honka coaches Telekom Baskets Bonn coaches Torpan Pojat players