TORONTO — More than six years removed from his ugly run as Knicks head coach, David Fizdale blamed his terrible record on the front office.
“If I was doing it over again, I would’ve fought more to build a team early on and not cash in my record,” Fizdale said on FanDuel TV’s show, “Run It Back.” “That’s the hard part for coaches when you agree to the tanking.”
Fizdale said he was under a directive to lose by the front office — led, at the time, by Steve Mills and Scott Perry — to draft Zion Williamson or Ja Morant. The Knicks picked RJ Barrett at No. 3 and, according to Fizdale, were convinced that summer that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving “were for sure coming to us.”
“That s–t didn’t work out,” Fizdale said.
Instead, the Knicks signed Julius Randle, Bobby Portis and Taj Gibson. Fizdale started 4-18 during the 2019-20 season and was canned. His final record with the Knicks was 21-83, the worst winning percentage in franchise history.
“Losing all those damn games,” Fizdale said. “Donating my record.”
Despite Fizdale’s excuses, the Knicks were much better after he left with largely the same roster. Mike Miller was a much more respectable 17-27 as the interim coach.
Then Tom Thibodeau took over and guided the team to the No. 4 seed in the East.
Fizdale has not held a head coaching job since his failed Knicks stint. The 51-year-old was an assistant with the Lakers and Suns, but currently is not on a staff.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
