Grizzlies fire Iavaroni after an 11-30 start

Halfway through another lost season, the Memphis Grizzlies fired Coach Marc Iavaroni on Thursday night.

Team spokesman Dustin Krugel confirmed Iavaroni’s dismissal but would not say who would coach the Grizzlies tonight against the Knicks. General Manager Chris Wallace was traveling to New York.

Memphis has lost seven straight and 15 of 17 to fall to 11-30 after Iavaroni led the team to a 22-60 record last season, his first as an NBA head coach.

Mourning retires

Alonzo Mourning has decided to retire rather than mount another NBA comeback at age 38. The seven-time All-Star center said he won’t return from a devastating leg injury on Dec. 19, 2007 -- the fourth anniversary of his lifesaving kidney transplant. He had been working out at the Miami Heat complex and said he’s running and jumping again, but he feared another leg injury if he returned.

“My health is more important than anything,” Mourning said at a news conference. “God willing I’ll be able to live another 40 or 50 years, and I want to do it in a comfortable state. Right now I’m there.”

Mourning played at Georgetown and was the second overall pick in the 1992 draft by the Charlotte Hornets.