Laying foundation with Knicks

Fizdale trying to bring Riley culture back to New York

MIAMI — David Fizdale remains a believer in the Miami Heat’s culture club, even as he attempts to establish one of his own with the New York Knicks.

Back in South Florida for Wednesday night’s game at American-Airlines Arena, the former Heat assistant and first-year Knicks coach said the banners above are a testament to the impact of Pat Riley as steward of the franchise.

Asked the greatest lesson learned from the Heat’s president, Fizdale said, “take care of the people in your building.”

The irony is that Riley arrived from New York to South Florida in 1995, leaving the Knicks to have the type of control and freedom to create his own vision of organizational culture.

“His big thing is the people who live under his roof, they know that they’re loved and they’re taken care of,” said Fizdale, Erik Spoelstra’s former lead assistant. “And then, in return, obviously he expects you to bust your heart and to be loyal to the organization, and try to build a culture.

“And, so, I’ve tried to take that with me everywhere I’ve been. And now that I’m New York, that’s something I’m definitely trying to implement.”

Fizdale said that made him particularly pleased to see Dwyane Wade return to the Heat after a season and a half away from the team, with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers.

“It’s where it should have been,” Fizdale said of Wade’s iconic No. 3 back in Heat colors. “But sometimes things happen. I think both parties are really happy that it came back together. But this is his home, this is his house. He’ll have a statue out in front before it’s all said and done.

“He really earned Wade County and this is where he’s supposed to be.”

Fizdale was on the Heat bench for the team’s trips to the NBA Finals from 2011 to 2014, with championships in 2012 and ‘13.

He then left the Heat in the 2016 offseason for his first job as a head coach, guiding the Memphis Grizzles to the 2017 playoffs before being dismissed at the start of last season.

“But I was really happy to go through what I went through in Memphis,” he said, “because that helped me, being a young coach, having to go in there and deal with veterans that had success, that was a great education for me.

“It gave me a lot of stuff that I can teach these guys and a lot of stuff that I learned personally from it.”

DAVID SANTIAGO/MIAMI HERALD Wednesday represented a reunion for Pat Riley, left, David Fizdale, center, and Erik Spoelstra with the Knicks’ visit to AmericanAirlines Arena.