The New York Knicks’ coaching search is finally over. After getting jilted at the altar by Steve Kerr, Knicks President Phil Jackson dusted off his designer cufflinks and wooed five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher with a five-year, $25 million contract. Fisher will replace Mike Woodson, who was shown this door in April after the Knicks missed the playoffs.
Fisher is an interesting choice as the Knicks’ head honcho. His coaching experience is nil. He almost literally stepped off the court and into a head coaching position. His former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, was eliminated from the playoffs just 10 days before he was officially named the Knicks’ coach. I’m not even sure if he’s had time to trade in his Nike KD’s for a fresh pair of Salvatore Ferragamos.
Regardless, the hire made sense for Jackson. While former Warriors coach and Brooklyn native Mark Jackson might have made perfect sense for the city of New York, Fisher makes more sense for the franchise. Phil Jackson and his 11 championship rings as a coach loom large and will cast a shadow over any NBA coach. That shadow might be a debilitating weight for any experienced head coach, but a rookie like Fisher should find comfort and security as the bright lights of NY blare on the team president instead of the coach.
Newbie coaches are the hottest trend in the NBA right now. Mark Jackson took over the reins in Golden State just three years ago. Like Fisher, he came into the coaching game with zero experience. After a rough 23-43 start during his first season, the Warriors improved the next two years, going 47-35 and 51-31 respectively. He led his team to the playoffs in two of three seasons only to get the ax.
Across the East River, Jason Kidd just finished up his rookie season holding the clipboard. He started out rough also after getting catty with and eventually banishing assistant coach Lawrence Frank. Kidd eventually figured it out and led the Nets to the Eastern Conference Semifinals where they ran into the Miami Heat. Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers had several winning seasons as a newbie in Orlando before winning a championship in Boston.
Back to Fisher. In addition to his five championships as a player, he earned respect and showed tremendous leadership skills as the president of the player’s association during the 2011 lockout. Now Fish hopes those leadership skills learned during the lockout chaos will translate to the bench. That experience may turn out to be his best preparation as he attempts to turn around a team suffering from a chronic case of abysmalitis and recurring disappointment. His thorough understanding of Phil Jackson’s preferred triangle offense is the main reason he was chosen. His hard work and humility is why he will succeed. Fisher won’t turn around the tumultuous Knicks overnight, but with Jackson’s powerful presence behind him, he’ll bury the Knicks’ recent rickety results like a sweet rainbow jumper.
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Schaefer and Mayweather split from Golden Boy
Longtime Golden Boy Promotions co-founder and CEO Richard Schaefer recently announced his resignation from the company. While Oscar De La Hoya is the company’s figurehead, Schaefer ran the day-to-day operations for more than a decade. The former Swiss banker was the key figure in promoting the boxing’s two most successful PPV fights: De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (2.5 million buys) and Mayweather vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2.2 million buys).
The break up is no surprise in the boxing world, as rumors of a rift between De La Hoya and Schaefer surfaced months ago. Much of the drama is said to be because of De La Hoya’s desire to end the “cold war” between GBP and Top Rank Boxing and its CEO Bob Arum. For years the two promotional companies have not played nicely together, preventing some of the most wanted fights, such as Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.
Though Mayweather is not officially signed to Golden Boy on any sort of long-term deal, Schaefer has been the chief promoter of Mayweather’s last several bouts on a per-fight basis. Considering that Mayweather is not particularly fond of Arum or De La Hoya, it’s no surprise that he vowed to cease doing business with Golden Boy the moment Schaefer called it quits.
While Schaefer has yet to announce any formal future plans, it’s widely expected that he’ll either team up with boxing advisor extraordinaire Al Haymon or jump over to Mayweather Promotions to make it a legitimate promotional outfit. Either way, with boxing’s two biggest power brokers on his side (and stock in Golden Boy), Schaefer will surely land on his feet.
Sadly for boxing fans, the split now represents another hurdle to putting the best fighters in the ring together. Sigh.
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