FIZ’S HEAT RAVE
As they researched the coaching candidacy of David Fizdale, members of the Knicks hierarchy interviewed many of those who had interacted with him in the past. But they did not meet with Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, who had a long relationship with Fizdale. They didn’t have to talk with Spoelstra.
They had already talked to Pat Riley.
“After you talk to Pat you don’t need to talk to me,” Spoelstra said Wednesday on a conference call. “You talk to the godfather and he gives the go ahead, you don’t need to talk to anybody else. Shut down all the interviews and you don’t have to call for references, any of that. You talked to the guy you need to talk to.”
But had they chatted up Spoelstra, who employed Fizdale on his Heat staff from 2008-16, including two NBA championships, they would have heard all the things they wanted to hear.
“You’re going to have an incredibly passionate coach and teacher and motivator,” Spoelstra said. “Fiz is one of the best basketball minds out here. He’s extremely creative. He’s got a terrific work ethic to match. He’s a versatile coach.”
And one who learns. Fizdale said he took “ownership” of the way his time as head coach in Memphis ended in a firing because of his inability to coach Marc Gasol. Spoelstra said that will make the new Knicks coach stronger.
“I’ve heard that from a lot of guys that have been in situations and it didn’t end the way they wanted it to. Those have been some of the biggest growth opportunities,” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra stressed other strengths of Fizdale, 43, who ended up checking all the boxes for Knicks team president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry.
“He can show he’s effective in all the different levels, development, coaching, management, X’s and O’s, all those things,” Spoelstra said. “He’s very advanced. Obviously he’s one of my closest friends, but I say all of that objectively.”
Friends don’t always act like friends. And Spoelstra acknowledged the two staged “epic” fights at times. Fizdale, who consistently is described by associates as an out-of-the box thinker, would make suggestions — to which Spoelstra usually reacted with initial horror.
“We had some epic, legendary fights,” Spoelstra said. “We would challenge each other all the time. Fiz was not afraid to share his opinion. That’s what I wanted.”
Even if he didn’t always show that immediately.
“When you think differently like that, there were two or three things every day that he would suggest on my desk that I would just literally throw back in his face and say, ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,’ ” Spoelstra said. But upon further review … “In two or three hours,”
Spoelstra said, “one of those ideas would sink in and I’d invariably end up calling him back saying, ‘All right it’s not the dumbest thing.’ It made me think a little differently, ‘ What if it could be this?’ That’s what I loved about Fiz, just constant ideas and creative thought.”
All those traits, along with a “selfless” nature earned Fizdale the respect and admiration of players, notably LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
“He’s selfless. He just wants to help guys get better. Players sense that,” Spoelstra said. “Fiz has that quality. He’s real, he’s authentic.”
Spoelstra said Fizdale always has been that way, even back handling the anything-butglamorous film-room work, when he was “very similar just with no money, compared to now.”
Spoelstra also touched on another, more personal aspect. Before he was a head coach, Spoelstra spoke of one day conducting clinics in the Philippines because of his Filipino heritage. Years later, he got the opportunity.
“Fiz was the first one who said, ‘I’m in. Let’s go. You’ve been talking about this for years,’ ” Spoelstra said. “He just wanted to help a friend and he knew how important it was to me. … Just the fact he would drop anything and everything to make those trips over to the Philippines says a lot about him.”
And Spoelstra would have told the Knicks so.