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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach 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 league's Western Conference ...

of the

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

(NBA).

Early life and education

Jenkins attended the

St. Mark's School of Texas The St. Mark's School of Texas is a nonsectarian preparatory day school for boys in grades 1–12 in Dallas, Texas, United States, accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. History St. Mark's traces its origins to the T ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. He was a two-time captain on their basketball team, where he played as an undersized forward. He studied at the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

and earned a Bachelor's of Science in Economics while concentrating in Management and minoring in Psychology. He did not play

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

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 league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

basketball operations department during the 2007–08 season. From 2008 to 2013, Jenkins worked as an assistant coach and a head coach for the

D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros. As the head coach, Jenkins led the Toros to a 27–23 (.540) record during the 2012–13 season and a first-round playoff victory over the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's pop ...

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 t ...

in the semifinals. In 2011–2012, Jenkins was an assistant on the coaching staff when the Toros won the D-League Championship. Jenkins worked 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 league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

for five years (2013–2018) under head coach

Mike Budenholzer Michael Vincent Budenholzer (born August 6, 1969) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before joining the Bucks, he spent five seasons as head coac ...

. The Hawks reached the playoffs four consecutive years including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015. Jenkins helped develop four of the Hawks 2015 starting five into

NBA All-Stars The National Basketball Association (NBA) NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a ...

(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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

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 the Spectrum Cen ...

. 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 website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

''. 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 ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, also ...

'' 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 Pera took public in 2011. In October 2012, Pera also became the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketb ...

," 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.

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 * Memp ...

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References

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