DENVER - OCTOBER 19: Royal Ivey #7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder goes to the basket against the Denver Nuggets during the preseason game on October 19, 2010 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2010 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
New York Knicks: David Fizdale to add Royal Ivey to staff
New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale has reportedly added former NBA player Royal Ivey to his staff as an assistant coach. Ivey is returning home.
Royal Ivey is set to join the New York Knicks as an assistant coach under head coach David Fizdale. Ivey is coming off of an assistant coaching gig with Oklahoma City Thunder that spanned two seasons.
He trained under Fizdale’s tutelage in Atlanta, so this will hopefully turn into a beautiful reunion.
Ivey is a New York native. He grew up in Harlem, which automatically makes him more beloved in New York. He went to Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, which is in Bayside, Queens.
During his tenure in Queens, he lead his team to the Class A championship. He then transferred to Blair Academy in New Jersey.
Post high school, Ivey took his talents to the University of Texas at Austin, where he’s the active leader in starts for the Longhorns. The Atlanta Hawks selected Ivey with the 37th overall selection in the 2004 NBA Draft.
Ivey played in the NBA for 10 seasons, making stops in Atlanta, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, and Guangdong (China). He was never a standout NBA player, but he went back to Texas during the lockout of 2011.
He graduated with a degree in applied learning and development, i.e. coaching.
Coaching Career
Ivey climbed the coaching ranks quickly. He started off coaching Oklahoma City’s G-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue. After just one season, Ivey’s NBA coaching career began.
As a former guard in the NBA, Ivey worked a lot with Westbrook. He now comes over to New York, the place where he grew up. He’ll have a chance to work with one of the youngest backcourts in the Association.
Ivey will play an integral role in helping Frank Ntilikina, Trey Burke, Damyean Dotson, Emmanuel Mudiay, and maybe even Trae Young mature into stars.
This is another case of a coach coming over to the Knicks to join Fizdale. There’s something charismatic about this guy, because everyone seems to love him.
Let’s hope David Fizdale can bring over some more great assistants to the New York Knicks.
