Another coaching turnover
I’m sure you could have guessed that after a 17-win season Derek Fisher was not long for his head coaching position with the Knicks but the trigger wasn’t pulled immediately. By the time Fisher was let go, the Knicks record on the season was 23-31 which was actually quite an improvement over the previous season.
But in this case, there were other issues at play beyond wins and losses. First being an incident between Fisher and Matt Barnes of the Memphis Grizzlies at Barnes’ ex-wife’s house. It’s incredible to me that so many of the issues surrounding the Knicks through the last 20 years read more like a reality show than athletics news.
Although reports indicated that Fisher was not the aggressor in the incident and the Knicks said Fisher had the full support of the organization, it seems that the altercation created deeper problems than were immediately apparent.
The beginning of the end for Derek Fisher was his situation with Matt Barnes. Needless to say, that did not go over big in the locker room.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) February 8, 2016
To me, it seems more likely that the Knicks didn’t appreciate that Fisher made the mistake of being publically realistic about the team’s chances. When asked during an ESPN radio interview if he would be disappointed if the Knicks missed the playoffs he said:
"No. Disappointed in what? We’re a developing team with a ton of new players. … We have to be reasonable about who we are and where we are and accept what is and not get caught up in what we should be and allow other people to define what our success is."
In my opinion, he was absolutely right. I mean, I know I would never expect my team to go from a 17-win season to the playoffs the following year. It would have been nice for sure, but not very likely. To me, Fisher’s comments represented a voice of reason within the Knicks organization. But maybe because so many losing seasons had already piled up Fisher’s comments were too much to be borne.
Hey @PhilJackson11 @nyknicks, I have a pretty decent resume on the court and I can coach; and I'm available. Call me. @nba
— Dennis Rodman (@dennisrodman) February 8, 2016
Jeff Hornacek was ultimately tapped as the Knicks next head coach but not before consideration was given to Brian Shaw and Luke Walton and Dennis Rodman made his pitch for the job.