The New York Knicks have ventured through their lion’s share of struggles this season, but it never demoralized head coach David Fizdale.
Finding positives amid a 13-49 season have been difficult for the New York Knicks. For the upside each young player shows, there’s a losing streak attached to it or situations like the Kristaps Porzingis trade, which removed the would-be face of the franchise.
Head coach David Fizdale had to navigate this team through it all — public adversity, roster changes and all. It was a bit to sign up for last spring. So as the season reaches its final full month, how did he handle it since October?
Fizdale attributed his positive mindset amid everything to his players, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. He praised their own mindset, as they show up ready to work for the first-year head coach:
"“They make it easy for me, they don’t shortcut me in here,” he said. “They come in here every single day with the right mindset and they compete hard against each other, they still root for each other, they still work with the belief that this is going to pay off. I can’t be negative, I can’t be down. It energizes me and my staff to come here every day and give them all we got.”"
There easily could have been a negative aura around this team, especially with the 18-game losing streak earlier this season. There were also 18 straight losses at Madison Square Garden which they broke against the San Antonio Spurs Sunday.
Before that, there were Enes Kanter‘s public expressions of unhappiness. This happened as he lost playing time by the game, to the point of sitting at the end of Fizdale’s bench.
It’s remarkable for Fizdale to navigate all of this, and this is hardly over, too. Not just with 20 games left, but the likely roster changes ahead in July, when over half the team hits free agency, led by DeAndre Jordan and his expiring $22.6 million salary.
Fizdale eventually must deal with new draft picks and free agents, potentially including some of the NBA’s greatest players. That’s a task in itself to keep that group happy, as veterans arrive instead of young, hungry rookies and sophomores trying to make their NBA impression.
In the meantime, there’s still a job to accomplish for the season’s final six weeks. More losses than wins are probable, so Fizdale still has time to maintain a positive energy around this team and ensure this campaign ends as smoothly as possible.