{"id":638223,"date":"2026-03-04T05:45:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/638223\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T05:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:45:24","slug":"ex-knicks-coach-david-fizdale-blames-failed-tenure-on-tanking-edict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/638223\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Knicks coach David Fizdale blames failed tenure on tanking edict"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TORONTO \u2014 More than six years removed from his ugly run as Knicks head coach, David Fizdale blamed his terrible record on the front office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I was doing it over again, I would\u2019ve fought more to build a team early on and not cash in my record,\u201d Fizdale said on FanDuel TV\u2019s show, \u201cRun It Back.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s the hard part for coaches when you agree to the tanking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Fizdale said he was under a directive to lose by the front office \u2014 led, at the time, by Steve Mills and Scott Perry \u2014 to draft Zion Williamson or Ja Morant. The Knicks picked RJ Barrett at No. 3 and, according to Fizdale, were convinced that summer that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving \u201cwere for sure coming to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat s\u2013t didn\u2019t work out,\u201d Fizdale said.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the Knicks signed Julius Randle, Bobby Portis and Taj Gibson. Fizdale started 4-18 during the 2019-20 season and was canned. His final record with the Knicks was 21-83, the worst winning percentage in franchise history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLosing all those damn games,\u201d Fizdale said. \u201cDonating my record.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38667299\" width=\"734\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/washington-wizards-vs-new-york-23327790.jpg\" alt=\"New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale reacts to a call during the game.\" class=\"wp-image-38667299\" style=\"width:734px;height:auto;aspect-ratio:1.37449664;display:block\"  \/>David Fizdale reacts to a call during a 2018 Knicks game. Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/p>\n<p>Despite Fizdale\u2019s excuses, the Knicks were much better after he left with largely the same roster. Mike Miller was a much more respectable 17-27 as the interim coach. <\/p>\n<p>Then Tom Thibodeau took over and guided the team to the No. 4 seed in the East.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Fizdale has not held a head coaching job since his failed Knicks stint. The 51-year-old was an assistant with the Lakers and Suns, but currently is not on a staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 More than six years removed from his ugly run as Knicks head coach, David Fizdale blamed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,11781,304,6,1136,191,3810,3806,3027,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-638223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-david-fizdale","10":"tag-knicks","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-knicks","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkknicks","16":"tag-ny-sports-minute","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116169325863406492","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}