clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Ted Leonsis made decision to fire Ernie Grunfeld last week in press interview

The Wizards owner explained his process on how he came to terminate Ernie Grunfeld as President of Basketball Operations on Tuesday, Apr. 3.

On Tuesday, the Wizards relieved Ernie Grunfeld of his duties as the President of Basketball Operations. In the afternoon, team owner Ted Leonsis had an interview with media. Here are some of the points he made.

Leonsis made the decision to terminate Grunfeld last week once the Wizards missed the playoffs. However, the team was in the middle of a four-game road trip against Western Conference opponents. Though Leonsis didn’t mention it, yesterday was April Fools Day, so it was probably better to wait until Tuesday.

Sometimes, Leonsis mentioned that he will do some soul searching with the Wizards over the next two to three weeks. Tommy Sheppard will now be the interim President of Basketball Operations until a permanent replacement is named. Sheppard is a candidate for the position as well, not unlike current Capitals General Manager Brian MaLellan who was hired from within when George McPhee was fired in 2014.

Throughout the video, Leonsis apologized multiple times to the fans and also called missing the playoffs and winning 50 regular season games was his “biggest miss in terms of setting goals.” You can watch his entire video above from the Wizards’ YouTube channel.