Robert Pera’s dislike of Dave Joerger started over Pera’s failed attempt to play Tony Allen in one-on-one

The saga surrounding the Memphis Grizzlies has featured some strange and surprising news.

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A week ago, everything seemed fine. Then reports started circulating that there were problems between management and the coaching staff. Just a few days ago, it seemed head coach Dave Joerger was on his way out of Memphis, with the relationship between him and owner Robert Pera too fractured to be fixed. But then yesterday new reports broke stating that Joerger would in fact be staying in Memphis–at least for the time being.

So how did all the problems between Pera and Joerger start? Well Chris Mannix at Sports Illustrated wrote a great piece detailing the numerous problems going on in Memphis. It turns out that Robert Pera’s dislike of Dave Joerger started over Pera’s failed attempt to play Tony Allen in one-on-one.

Yes, that is the real story. If you don’t remember this odd story from over a year ago, check out this excerpt from Mannix’s story.

"The genesis of the Joerger-Pera problems, according to league sources, dates back to last September. Pera — who fancies himself a pretty good player — challenged Tony Allen to a game of one-on-one. Allen, on Twitter, accepted. Pera, a Silicon Valley billionaire who bought a small controlling interest in the Grizzlies in 2012, poured tens of thousands of dollars into producing the matchup. He invited the media and instructed the public relations staff to issue a press release promoting the event.The problem? Allen had lost interest. Joerger, a first-year head coach, didn’t like the idea of the game — like many in the organization he found it goofy and unbecoming of a professional team, according to sources — but it was Allen’s indifference that caused it to be called off. Yet Pera directed his frustration at Joerger and, according to a source, directed upper management to fire him."

I just… I don’t know. I actually really wanted to see the game between Pera and Allen, but alas. This story certainly paints Pera as an impulsive, meddlesome owner. With Joerger still the head coach as of now, it will be interesting to see how everything plays out over the course of the summer.