Despite the Los Angeles Lakers demonstrating growth under head coach Luke Walton during his second season, speculation surfaced the franchise would consider replacing him with David Fizdale.
That spawned from Fizdale seemingly having the support of LeBron James, who was among the many current or former players to express their dismay with the Memphis Grizzlies’ decision to fire Fizdale last November.
Fizdale and James developed an appreciation for one another and strong relationship during their time together with the Miami Heat. The Lakers are of course believed to have grand visions that include signing James as a free agent this summer.
But they do not appear moved to making a coaching change. For Fizdale, recent reports indicated he interviewed for head coaching vacancies with the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Fizdale has agreed to become to the new Knicks head coach:
David Fizdale has agreed to a deal to become the New York Knicks coach, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 3, 2018
The perception of Fizdale potentially replacing Walton cooled once Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and president of basketball operations Magic Johnson provided the team’s head coach with a public vote of confidence.
That came in January, and in the time since, Johnson and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka have restated their happiness with Walton. During last month’s exit interviews, the two executives said they looked forward to working with Walton for several years to come.