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| AP |
Derek Fisher's offseason didn't last long and he will be reuniting with former coach Phil Jackson after accepting the coaching position for the New York Knicks.
Derek Fisher is only ten days removed from
being knocked out of the playoffs at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs and
will already begin working on next season.
The hire comes after rumors spread through the NBA like a
wildfire that Phil Jackson would look to hire his former multi-champion point guard (Even
the NBA got wind and fined Jackson $25,000 for talking about Fisher while he was
still under contract with the Thunder).
Jackson made the decision to pursue Fisher after another one
of his multi-champion point guards, Steve Kerr, decided to coach the Warriors
over his Knicks.
Fisher's contract is reportedly a 5-year $25
million contract, and will be confirmed Tuesday during what the Knicks
scheduled as "a major announcement."
Fisher had a few options and spent the
previous week deciding which he would choose. It was said that the Los Angeles
Lakers, who Fisher spent 13 of his 17 year career with, also were interested in
Fisher's services. Fisher was also considering lacing them up for another
season or taking a front office job.
This will be the second coach in as many
years who will be making their coaching debut in the very next season after
retiring (Jason Kidd hired was hired as the coach of the Brooklyn Nets less
than a month after retiring). Oddly enough both of these coaches are in New York.
If Kidd's first season is any indication as
to where Fisher will be then we should be in for some great basketball in the
eastern conference (Kidd, who had a sluggish start, turned things around by New
Years and coached the Brooklyn Nets to the sixth seed in the Eastern
Conference). Kidd's veteran-led Nets made it to the second round of the
playoffs before losing to the Miami Heat.
Phil Jackson had always intended to bring in
a young coach that he could mentor and have an on-the-court presence at the
Knicks training camp and practices. Jackson
was also searching for a coach who he had a close relationship with and after
his first option, Kerr, accepted the Warriors position he let it be known that
the coaching search would be on hold until Fisher's playoff run was over.
Fisher and Jackson will put together the rest
of the coaching staff and are said to be considering a few of Jackson's former
players and assistants (Bill Cartwright, Luke Walton, Ron Harper, Kurt Rambis,
and Jim Cleamons).
We should expect to see a lot of media
attention on the Knicks next season, even more than the normal New York City professional sports attention,
with all eyes on how Jackson and Fisher interact and play their respective
roles.
Of course this is only to be expected when
the greatest coach in the history of professional sports is running a team in
the largest media market in North America.
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| (Photo : Reuters) |
The Los Angeles Lakers plan on making a
splash across the NBA when they choose their 25th coach in franchise history.
There are some big names being thrown around
including two NCAA National Championship coaches; John Calipari and former 13-year NBA veteran, who is also the current NCAA Champion coach, Kevin Ollie .
Calipari was rumored to be the next Lakers
coach on the night of the National Championship game but denied all rumors, of
course. Calipari left a clear message saying he plans on staying with his group
of kids at Kentucky,
but this wouldn't be the first time a coach talked one way and walked another.
Ollie's name has been included with
Calipari's for the Lakers coaching opening but seems more of a stretch of the
two because of his lack of experience. Ollie was able to coach the UConn Huskies to a
National Championship in his first NCAA Tournament experience as a coach, which
sky rocketed his name to the top of a lot of openings across the NBA. His 13-year NBA
experience is also a plus and would help him tremendously in understanding the
face-paced tempo of the NBA.
Another name being thrown around is actually
in the playoffs right now. Former Laker and current Oklahoma City Thunder
player Derek Fisher's name has been mentioned since D'Antoni's resigned. Fisher
has already said he plans to retire after this season. The Brooklyn Nets took a
risk when they hired Jason Kidd the same offseason that he retired and that
ended up pretty well after a rough start.
Lionel Hollins and George Karl are both
available as well. Both Hollins and Karl coached their teams to the playoffs at
the end of the 2013 season but were both also let go. George Karl also won the
coach of the year that season with the Denver Nuggets, but oddly enough was
still out of a job after his playoff series loss to Golden State.
Hollins was out as coach of the Grizzlies after he was swept out of the
playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs.
A few other notable names with some buzz
around the Lakers coaching search are Steve Kerr, Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott,
Kurt Rambis, Mike Dunleavy Sr, as well as the Chicago Bulls current coach Tom
Thibodeau.
Oh and if you thought the Clippers drama was over, Doc Rivers is
also on the Lakers radar; sources close to Rivers said he currently has no
thoughts about Lakers coach opening at this time.
The Lakers are going to need a coach who can
handle the spotlight of the Los
Angeles market and the expectations for a Lakers
organization that is a regular in the playoffs, including 16 NBA Championships.
The stars are bright in LA, on your roster
and sitting courtside and all of these variables should be consider when the
Lakers do decide who will be their 25th coach in Los Angeles Lakers history.
