Grizzlies' Marc Gasol denies asking for coach David Fizdale to be fired

It's no secret that tensions have been rather high between Grizzlies coach David Fizdale and star player Marc Gasol.

Despite what the NBA world may think about their relationship, Gasol made it clear that he was not the reason behind the firing of Fizdale, which happened Monday.

When asked by reporters on Tuesday if he spoke out against Fizdale to management demanding he get fired, Gasol responded saying, "No. Not at all."

“Nobody likes to see a coaching change during the season. I was a little bit shocked by it,” Gasol said, per Commercial Appeal. “I never try to accomplish anything like that. I always have (the coach's) back."

The timing of Fizdale's firing is interesting, as it came just one day after Gasol expressed how upset he was that Fizdale benched him in the fourth quarter on Sunday against Brooklyn.

“There’s nothing I can do about that,” Gasol said. “All I can do is win, own my part and accept the responsibility of why we have the record we have right now. I’ve got to try to keep the guys together.”

Gasol did admit that he hasn't had the strongest relationship with Fizdale, as the two did not always "see everything eye-to-eye."

“Nobody likes to be in the situation we’re in. And we were not finding a way to win collectively. We were breaking apart. Me and David didn’t see everything eye-to-eye all the time. But we both had the same intentions of making the team a collective, really strong unit. We couldn’t find a way to do that.”