Who is David Fizdale, the prospective assistant coach for the LA Lakers? Looking at the former New York Knicks man's profile
Earlier today, multiple sources reported that former New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale is joining the LA Lakers as an assistant coach. David Fizdale earlier had a stint with LeBron James at the Miami Heat. He was the assistant coach for the Heat from 2008 to 2016 under currently the second-longest tenure head-coach in the NBA, Erik Spoelstra.
David Fizdale started his coaching career at San Diego University before a two-year stint with Fresno State University. Fizdale began his NBA coaching career as an assistant for the Golden State Warriors before a four-year stint with the Atlanta Hawks. He helped the Miami Heat to two NBA titles in 2012 and 2013, and was named as the head coach for the Memphis Grizzlies in May 2016.
LA Lakers to hire David Fizdale as an assistant coach: We look at the former New York Knicks’ head coach’s profile
Earlier today, ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed on Twitter that the LA Lakers are finalizing talks to hire David Fizdale as an assistant coach. Fizdale led the Memphis Grizzlies to a 43-49 finish in his first season as head-coach in 2016-17, before being sacked after a poor start to the 2017-18 season. The Grizzlies lost the first eight matches before Fizdale was sacked towards the end of November 2017.
However, David Fizdale returned to the NBA the following season when he was named as the head-coach of the New York Knicks. However, a less than average roster starring Tim Hardaway Jr. as the secondary scorer did not qualify for the Playoffs, and slumped to a 17-65 record. The New York Knicks added the likes of RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Reggie Bullock in the offseason but a poor start meant Fizdale was again sacked.
He has since not been involved in the NBA. However, the LA Lakers have all but finalized a deal to sign him as an assistant coach to Frank Vogel. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, David Fizdale received multiple offers to join NBA teams as an assistant coach in the past few months but has chosen to go to the LA Lakers, thereby reuniting with NBA legend LeBron James.
The LA Lakers had a vacancy on their coaching staff after Jason Kidd recently joined the Dallas Mavericks as their head coach.