NY Knicks fire Derek Fisher; Rambis interim head coach

New York Knicks team president Phil Jackson emerged Monday to discuss the firing of head coach Derek Fisher with the local press. But 1½ seasons later, Jackson decided he needed someone else.

After sitting within the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff picture throughout the early portion of the season, the Knicks have fallen to 12th in the conference, five games behind the Detroit Pistons for eighth place, by falling short in nine of their last 10 games. He said at the time of his hiring that his relationship with Jackson played a major role in his decision to join the team.

A former president of the NBA Players Association, Fisher took over a Knicks team that had a 37-45 record in the 2013-14 season and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.

New York Knicks head coach Derek Fisher during the second half of the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Time Warner Cable Arena.

“He’s a phenomenal human being and a great coach”, Kerr said.

Jackson had said in 2014 when he hired Fisher, “I’d like to have a prior relationship with a coach so that we know that we’ve gone through some kind of issues together “We’ve dealt with some kind of battle situations”. The Knicks are 23-31 and went 40-96 under Fisher.

Unfortunately, it appears as though Jackson isn’t going to abandon the Triangle anytime soon, even if he said it’s not a prerequisite for the job.

Fisher, 41, played for 18 National Basketball Association seasons and won five titles with the Lakers under Jackson.

“Telling a guy he can’t jump on someone’s back is not that big of a rule change”, Los Angeles Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said Sunday. However, the Knicks haven’t gone far enough to convince Jackson that Fisher is the right person to go into the playoffs. He was involved in a fight with Memphis Grizzlies forward and former teammate Matt Barnes when he was at the home of Barnes’ estranged wife in California.

Knicks: Jackson, during an interview with MSG Network, said the chances of a trade before next week’s deadline were “very slim” but that they would be looking…. “That was embarrassing for us and for Derek, but that had nothing to do with what’s happened here today”.

“I’ve been through worse”, Anthony said.

The Knicks need to upgrade the point guard position and add a versatile, athletic wing player who can guard multiple positions and knock down shots.

Melo has averaged 17.7 points on 33.3% shooting the last 10 games and has lacked a quick first step.

Kyrie Irving matched his season high with 32 points for Cleveland.