David Fizdale’s wife has gone in to bat for the sacked NBA coach, hitting back at some online haters.
Fizdale was the latest coach tasked with trying to turn around the New York Knicks, but he was given barely 100 games before the longtime losers decided it was time to try someone else.
The Knicks cut ties with Fizdale and promoted assistant Mike Miller to interim head coach earlier this month after two straight blowout losses dropped them to 4-18 on the season.
The knives were out for Fizdale all season long – and it appears the haters still aren’t satisfied.
Fizdale’s wife Natasha Sen-Fizdale posted a photo of the pair enjoying some getaway time at the beach on Saturday.
The photo showed Fizdale reading “Ta-nehisi Coates The Water Dancer” while lounging on the beach, with the caption “Vitamin Sea”.
But Sen-Fizdale was infuriated by some of the comments.
When one user replied: “When you see the knicks are far better off without you,” she responded.
“Actually we’re rooting for the guys. But nice try though. I get snarky in the cold too. No worries,” she wrote.
Another troll commented: “Should be reading a coaching for dummies book,” to which Sen-Fizdale shot back: “You should try reading period.”
Well played!
Fizdale’s disappointing time in New York
Fizdale went 21-83 in his time with the Knicks, a .202 winning percentage.
They have the worst record in the Eastern Conference after finishing with the worst record in the NBA last season in Fizdale’s first season.
The Knicks went 17-65 in 2018-19 to match the worst record in franchise history and they are on pace to be even worse this season.
New York missed out on the top stars that were available in free agency and the players they did get haven’t meshed nearly well enough.
Still, team executives expected better results, saying so with an unusual press conference to express their disappointment after a loss to Cleveland on Nov. 10 dropped them to 2-8.
Team President Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry said then they remained confident in Fizdale. But things didn’t get better from there, especially once the schedule turned tougher this month.
And it led to the second-straight quick exit for Fizdale as a head coach.
The former Miami assistant led Memphis to the playoffs in his first season, but was fired after the Grizzlies got off to a 7-12 start in 2017-18 and he clashed with centre Marc Gasol.