The Knicks Have Reportedly Fired Head Coach David Fizdale

The New York Knicks are never afraid to fire a head coach, and on Friday afternoon, that trend continued. David Fizdale, who the team hired with the hopes of molding talented youngsters into a squad that could attract superstars to the Big Apple, has been fired by the franchise’s front office.

The news of Fizdale’s ouster, along with the news assistant coach Keith Smart is also on his way out the door, comes via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The news of the move — which had been speculated for weeks — comes on the heels of a 37-point loss at Madison Square Garden on Thursday to the Denver Nuggets. It was the latest loss in what has been a brutal eight-game losing streak for New York, one that has dropped them to 4-18 on the season. This ties the worst start to a season in franchise history, which says a lot, as the Knicks have had some absolutely brutal squads over the years.

Under Fizdale’s tutelage, New York went 17-65 during the 2018-19 campaign, which was viewed as an all-out rebuild in the lead-up to a potentially successful free agent period this past summer. That, of course, did not happen, and the Knicks instead opted to bring in a collection of veteran frontcourt players with the hopes of being more competitive this season. That didn’t happen either, and now, they’ll need a new coach. Time will tell what comes next for Fizdale — who has now been fired in his second year with a franchise for the second time in his career — while New York is at its latest crossroad.