Fratello was not in charge of the Grizzlies’ locker room, according to J-Will.
As an NBA head coach, Mike Fratello has a 667-548 record, including a 95-83 mark with the Memphis Grizzlies.
But according to Jason Williams, a former point guard for the Grizzlies, Fratello would have been better served as a middle school coach since he would not have been able to manage a team made up of grown men in the NBA.
J-Will recently appeared on The OGs Show with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller. “Fratello wasn’t a guy, man,” he added. “He wasn’t a man capable of leading twelve mature men. He seems like a fantastic middle school coach, buddy. I promise.”
Bonzi threw Fratello his headband.
Williams claims that Memphis had a competent and strong team in the past. But things started to spiral out of hand when Fratello took charge following Hubie Brown’s abrupt resignation.
During Fratello’s first season, Memphis qualified for the playoffs, but in addition to losing to the Phoenix Suns in the first round, Mike lacked control over his players, as demonstrated by Bonzi Wells’ performance on the court.
“Fratello refused to stay seated; instead, he would stand up there on the court. Bonzi, however, emerged and took a seat. The quarter is still almost eight minutes away. Fratello never even returned to the location. With timeouts and all, the remainder of the half remained in that zone. Simply remained there and spoke with the referees,” Jason continued.
Williams stated that Wells made up his mind not to play in the second half. At one point, Bonzi got up and tossed his headband at the head coach of the Grizzlies when Fratello called a timeout.
That game, Fratello suspended Wells.
J-Will stated that he was unsure of the series’ match, but guessed it was probably Game 3, in which Bonzi appeared for just nine minutes. Having played only 16 minutes in the first game of the series, he did not play in Game 2. Wells received a suspension for Memphis’ loss in Game 4. However, Bonzi wasn’t the only one who felt that way about Fratello.
According to Jason’s interview, following that headband-throwing game, Mike took out his wrath on him. Fratello also faced criticism for his brief portrayal of Stromile Swift in that series. When Bonzi was suspended in Game 4, J-Will and Stro showed support by donning armbands featuring Wells’ No. 6 jersey.
The following season, Fratello led Memphis to the fifth seed in the East with 49 wins, but Williams, Wells, and Swift had left the team. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies lost their opening-round playoff series.
But Mike’s tenure was brief, as the Grizzlies sacked him following a 6-24 start in the 2007–08 season. However, the supporting group that had helped Gasol and Miller win 50 games in 2004 had left the squad by that point.
