Grizzlies

said. “When you become an interim head coach part of your conscious tells you that you’ve let down whoever was the head coach. We came here to do something together. That was my mindset from Day One. I was here to help him succeed. When a change occurs, the first emotion you go through is blame. What more could you have done to help the situation?... But with his blessing it made decisions and things I had to do easier. We’ve been in contact up until a few days ago.”

The Grizzlies parted ways with Fizdale one day after the team dropped to 7-12 on the season, including eight straight losses. David Fizdale agreed Thursday to become the New York Knicks' head coach, according to USA TODAY Sports.

Bickerstaff, 39, stepped in with unique experience as a young NBA coach.

He went 37-34 as an interim coach with the Houston Rockets and guided them to the playoffs in 2015-16 after being promoted to interim head coach following the firing of Kevin McHale.

In many ways, Bickerstaff 's personality is an extension of Fizdale with his candor and he was always allowed to flex his head coaching muscles in Memphis.

“After every game we'll sit down, and watch the game and talk about everything that happened from Xs and Os emotionally,” center Marc Gasol said. "We talk about the good, bad and ugly. (Bickerstaff) doesn't hold anything back. When he sees something I'm not doing he'll let me know. He uses different angles to get to the same point.”

Fizdale has known Bickerstaff since he was 17 years old. He’s convinced the Grizzlies are lucky to have him as coach.

“He's obviously a close friend of mine. But it just isn’t about friendship,” Fizdale said. “He's one of the best coaches in the NBA. Anyone in the NBA will tell you the same."