Knicks Fire Coach Derek Fisher
The Knicks fired Coach Derek Fisher on Monday, less than two seasons into his failed tenure as a first-time coach.
The team announced in a statement that Kurt Rambis would take over as interim coach. Rambis had been serving as Fisher’s top assistant.
The Knicks’ loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday was their ninth loss in 10 games, dropping their record to 23-31. It turned out to be the tipping point for Phil Jackson, the team president, who sought a change with the team swiftly falling out of playoff contention.
Fisher, who was hired in June 2014, coached the Knicks to an overall record of 40-96 (.294). He leaves in the second season of a five-year, $25 million deal, meaning the Knicks once again find themselves dealing with an expensive mistake, this one made by Jackson, who took over as team president in March 2014.Jackson, who had not spoken with reporters since the season began, held a news conference at the Knicks’ practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y., on Monday afternoon to discuss the firing.
“It was time for us to make a change, turn this team around and move forward and get some wins,’’ he said. “It’s easier,’’ he added, “to fire a coach than 15 players.’’
He said Rambis, 57, would be the interim coach for the rest of the season, giving Jackson time to decide who the next permanent coach should be.
Initially, Jackson wooed Steve Kerr to become the Knicks’ coach for the 2014-15 season, but in something of a surprise, Kerr turned him down and took the head coaching job with the Golden State Warriors, with whom he proceeded to win an N.B.A. championship.
Jackson, who seemed to have no backup plan in case Kerr rejected his offer, eventually turned to Fisher, who was just finishing a long and distinguished playing career by serving as a backup guard with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It was understood that Fisher, who played for Jackson when he coached the Los Angeles Lakers and helped him win five championships there, would be learning on the job last season. Still, no one, including Jackson, could have foreseen how poorly the team would do.
The Knicks stumbled to a 17-65 record, the worst in franchise history, and any steps that Fisher was taking to implement Jacksons’s famed triangle offense became irrelevant.
This season started out far better. Bolstered by the addition of the Knicks’ first-round pick, Kristaps Porzingis, who became an immediate sensation in New York and around the N.B.A., the Knicks played well enough to be considered a contender for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
As late as Jan. 20, the Knicks had a 22-22 record after winning their second overtime game at Madison Square Garden in three nights. But since then, they have slumped badly. With the All-Star break looming, Jackson decided now was the time to shake things up.Not fully clear was how much, if at all, Fisher’s well-publicized off-season confrontation with the Memphis Grizzlies’ Matt Barnes might have played into Jackson’s decision.
In October, Barnes and Fisher became involved in an altercation at the Los Angeles-area home of Barnes’s estranged wife, Gloria Govan. Fisher was reported to have been in a personal relationship with Govans at the time.
Barnes was ultimately given a two-game suspension by the N.B.A. for his role in the episode; Fisher was not punished. But his judgment in engaging in a relationship with the estranged wife of an active N.B.A. player was questioned, and whether it affected his status will remain open to speculation.
Barnes, who is known to be an emotional player, did his best to keep the incident from receding, criticizing Fisher publicly as recently as mid-January, when the two teams played in Memphis.
In his news conference Monday, Jackson denied the incident was a factor in Fisher’s removal, stating: “No one’s happy about how that happened or what came out of that. It was embarrassing for us and for Derek. But that had nothing to do with what’s happened here today.’’
At is turned out, the Knicks and the Grizzlies played again Friday night at Madison Square Garden. This time, Barnes chose not to talk about Fisher, and he and his teammates put together a 91-85 victory.http://toplivenews.net/
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