New York Knicks: 5 games to highlight on the 2018-19 schedule

New York Knicks (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

2. Sunday, November 25 @ Memphis Grizzlies

Newly-hired head coach David Fizdale will make his first return to Memphis on November 25th.

Fizdale was hired in 2016 as an up-and-coming young coach in the League after being an assistant and associate head coach on two championship teams in Miami.

In his stint that lasted a little bit over a season, Fizdale led the Grizzlies to a 50-51 regular season record. In his only full season as an NBA head coach, his team lost a 4-2 series to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.

He was fired after Memphis started last year’s campaign with an underwhelming 7-12 record.

After firing Fizdale, the Grizzlies went 15-48 with J.B. Bickerstaff at the helm while being riddled by injuries. Star point guard Mike Conley played only 12 games the entire year.

The intrigue surrounding this game also stems from the fact that Fizdale’s exit from Memphis was in large part due to his clash with all-star Marc Gasol. The feud between Gasol and Fizdale came to a head when the second-year coach chose to bench Gasol for nearly an entire half against the Nets last year.

Fizdale was fired from his position as coach of the Grizzlies the very next day.

Known for having good relationships with many star players from around the NBA, it was an odd situation for David Fizdale to get caught up in.

This past May, Fizdale agreed to a deal with the New York Knicks after being unemployed for just over five months.

It will be interesting to see how the Memphis fans greet their old coach as he returns to the arena where he led the team to a success 2016-2017 season.