After roughly 18 months out of the NBA, David Fizdale has resurfaced.
Fizdale will be joining the Lakers as an assistant following Jason Kidd’s departure to take the Mavericks’ head coaching job, according to ESPN. The move reunited Fizdale with LeBron James, whom Fizdale coached as a Heat assistant during James’ four seasons in Miami.
After six years coaching at the college level, Fizdale joined Golden State as an assistant between 2003-04 before spending four years with the Hawks.
Fizdale joined the Heat in 2008 and spent eight seasons with Miami before landing his first NBA head coaching position with the Grizzlies. His tenure in Memphis was less than stellar, going 43-39 his first season and 7-12 before he was fired in his second.
He got another shot as a head coach with the Knicks, but he was unable to bring them a winning season. In 2018-19, the Knicks went 17-65 (.207) and 4-18 in his second season before he was fired again.
The 47-year-old recently revealed to The Undefeated that he “was at the lowest place I’ve ever been from a mental health standpoint” after he was fired by the Knicks.
“I thought the lowest point was during the losses,” Fizdale told the website. “But it was after, when you go through the whole part of, ‘What could I have done different? Did I even deserve this job?’ You think like you were an imposter. You felt like you got over on these people. You’re a fraud.”