I was blessed to have not experienced divorce as a child. My mother and father were married for 44 years, until my dad passed in 2001.
My first marriage, I wasn’t so fortunate. It was a very turbulent relationship — within three years time, we married, had a daughter, separated TWICE.
Things are better between us now, but man, it was rough. And my overriding concern was for my daughter, and her feelings when the two people she loves most couldn’t make it work.
This week, Grizzlies star Marc Gasol and former head coach David Fizdale both opened up about Fizdale’s abrupt dismissal from the franchise. And I came away from their remarks scratching my head about why things fell apart.
On Monday, after a practice, Gasol held an impromptu chat session with members of the local media. Marc, as always, was careful with his language, careful not to throw Fizdale under the bus. He took responsibility.
“I understand that I’ve made some mistakes,” Gasol said, according to The Associated Press. “I understand I’m responsible for some of the things – not all the things. In any relationship, there’s multiple moving pieces. Not just one.”
And then, just Wednesday, Fizdale appeared on ESPN’s The Jump with Rachel Nichols. Always the likeable diplomat (except with Gasol, obviously), Fizz dodged multiple opportunities to talk trash about Gasol or the Grizzlies, though Nichols and co-host Tracy McGrady did quite well on their own.
“At the end of the day, I’m a big boy,” Fizdale said. “I’m not faultless in all this stuff. I don’t want to sit here and act like that. I have my mistakes that I made, things I want to grow from and learn.”
Argh. See, here’s the thing: I like Marc Gasol. Admire his competitive spirit, intellect, selflessness. I like David Fizdale, I admire his acumen, work ethic, charm and charisma. The usual math says that when you have two such likeable people, they should be able to get along, right?
“I think we both wanted what was best for the team, and we were not figuring it out how to be on the same page,” Gasol said. “It got to a point that things were getting out of control fast, and (management) decided to go in a different direction.”
Fizdale shrugs off the rift as life in the NBA.
“That’s the league,” Fizdale said when asked about Gasol. “The best player and the coach aren’t always going to get along. That’s just how it goes sometimes.”
Like divorce I suppose. Regardless of how much you like both people — or how you wish things had worked out.
