Ref rant has become stuff of legend

David Fizdale’s rant precedes him. Before he even has been officially announced as the Knicks’ new coach, some of his future players — and tons of his prospective fans — chimed in on social media, having fun with the most recognizable moment of his young coaching career.

As a rookie head coach two seasons ago in Memphis, Fizdale had unloaded on the officials following a 96-82 playoff loss to San Antonio. After watching the Spurs go 31-of-32 from the free-throw line while his Grizzlies attempted just 15, Fizdale — who grew up in South Central Los Angeles in the 1990s and has never been afraid to express himself — let loose with a rant that has become part of NBA lore.

“I’m not gonna let them treat us that way. I know Pop’s [Gregg Popovich] got pedigree and I’m a young rookie, but they’re not gonna rook us,” Fizdale said. “That’s unacceptable. That’s unprofes- sional. My guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game. And they did not even give us a chance. Take that for data!”

Of course, the data the NBA was interested in was the $30,000 that league vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe fined Fizdale.

Many of the all-time great coaching rants were directed at the media (from Jim Mora’s “Playoffs?” and Herm Edwards’ “You play to win the game” to Mike Gundy’s “I’m a man!” and Dennis Green’s “The Bears are who we thought they were”). But Fizdale went after the refs for the purpose of protecting his players. That’s why they paid his fine out of their own pockets.

It’s also likely why the Knicks were getting such a kick out of it, and already backing their future coach on social media. Tim Hardaway Jr. tweeted, “TAKE THAT FOR DATA,” with the hashtag, “KnicksWay” after Fizdale was announced as the Knicks’ next coach.