Derek Fisher was named head coach of the New York Knicks on Tuesday June 10 in one of the first major moves in a makeover of the once-proud National Basketball Association franchise by team president Phil Jackson.
A five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Jackson was the coach, during his 18-year playing career, Fisher takes over from Mike Woodson, who was fired in April.
Fisher, 39, will shift from playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder to steering a Knicks team that went 37-45 during the 2013-14 season and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.
Jackson, a former Knicks player who won a record 11 NBA titles as coach of the Chicago Bulls and Lakers, was hired in March to turn the team around and wiped the slate clean by firing Woodson and his staff when the regular season ended.
The Knicks last won an NBA title in 1973, when Jackson played for the New York team as a defensive minded forward.
Fisher, a former first-round pick from Arkansas Little-Rock, will certainly give New York a credibility that only champions can bring.
"That's why I'm here," Fisher said. "That's why I took advantage of this opportunity, to be a part of that process."
Text by Brian Mahoney Associated Press
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