It was a big first night this Wednesday for Tuomas Iisalo. The former Paris Basketball coach, who left this summer for the NBA, led his first meeting on the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Appointed last July among Memphis’ eight assistant coaches for his first experience across the Atlantic, the 42-year-old Finn took advantage of the unfortunate absence of head coach Taylor Jenkins, unavailable due to a death in his family. , to take a seat on the bench. Tuomas Iisalo was chosen by his franchise among all the other assistants despite his meager experience (8 games as an assistant).
And for great success. The Grizzlies dominated the Los Angeles Lakers (131-114). Tuomas Iisalo, however, had to cope without Ja Morant (20 points, 5 assists), throughout the fourth quarter, out for hamstring discomfort, and face a LeBron James of great evenings (39 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists), his best game since the start of his 22nd season in the NBA at age 39. The “King” this Wednesday became the 6th player in history to reach the mark of 1,500 regular season games, 21 years and 9 days after the first.
