Memphis Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo was previously the head coach of Paris Basketball. His successor was Tiago Splitter, who then joined the Portland Trail Blazers as an assistant coach. Chauncey Billups was placed on immediate leave following shocking federal indictments, resulting in Splitter taking over as the Blazers' interim head coach.
Splitter is off to a great start in that role as the Blazers are now 5-3. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies sit at 3-6 and are seemingly on the brink of collapse, as tensions between Iisalo and star Ja Morant are escalating.
Blazers can't ignore the Paris coaching tree connection
ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel recently reported that Morant is distraught by Iisalo's coaching style, which emphasizes short rotational stints.
"The constant in-and-out substitutions Iisalo had been making through the first two weeks of the 2025-26 season began to impact Morant mentally, leading to a halftime interaction between the coaching staff and the players where the star point guard was challenged to be better and lift the team's energy despite the team's 14-point halftime lead, sources said," Siegel writes.
Siegel adds that Morant showed "lackluster play in the second half" of their game against the Los Angeles Lakers as a result of the halftime interaction. Things apparently got even worse after the game with a heated discussion.
"While the direct quotes of this locker room squabble between Iisalo and Morant were not shared verbatim with ClutchPoints, multiple sources say Iisalo singled Morant out for his lack of effort and leadership. Voices were raised during this postgame locker room session, and it ended with Morant essentially telling Iisalo that the constant substitutions were not working and they were the reason for everyone's lack of enthusiasm in the second half," Siegel added.
I played in Europe and this style of coaching will have him back coaching in FIBA. First you got to have a great relationship with your star player and secondly, hockey style substitutions don’t work. Iisalo is robotic coaching. Let the player tell you if he is tired! https://t.co/RWYiKo3izM
— Eddie A Johnson (@Jumpshot8) November 7, 2025
This should concern the Blazers, considering the Paris coaching tree and the coaching similarities between Iisalo and Splitter.
"I think when you play fast, to have the guys going at the max, they can bring it by doing more subs, doing smaller stints. It's really hard," Splitter said before Portland's win over Oklahoma City. "Everyone talks about playing hard and playing fast if you just go long stints, but it's really difficult to do it unless you're an elite athlete... For the average athlete, it's hard to go hard 12 minutes or even more in a row and play hard at every possession."
Time will tell if Splitter's coaching style pays off. Early indications suggest it is having a positive impact defensively, albeit with negative ramifications on offense as players struggle to find their rhythm.
The Blazers need to be monitoring this situation in Memphis surrounding Morant and Iisalo's conflicting playstyle interests to ensure they aren't the next team to have this issue.