A job on the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff opened up when former assistant coach Jason Kidd departed the role after two years to be the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
It didn’t take the Lakers too long to fill the spot Kidd left behind.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported Wednesday the Lakers were finalizing a deal to bring in David Fizdale as an assistant.
Fizdale’s last two coaching gigs were head coaching roles with the Memphis Grizzlies and the New York Knicks, but his tenures with both franchises didn’t last long.
Wojnarowski also reported other teams had interest in Fizdale, though there wasn’t any clarification on who those teams were and what offers they had for Fizdale.
According to Marc J. Spears of ESPN, one of those teams was the Indiana Pacers, who gave Fizdale a more lucrative offer to join newly appointed Rick Carlisle’s staff:
David Fizdale accepted Lakers assistant coach opening over more lucrative Indiana offer, @TheUndefeated learned. Former Grizzlies & Knicks coach preferred being reunited with LeBron, being home in LA and Lakers title chances. LeBron & Fiz communicated after latter agreed to deal.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 1, 2021
As Spears notes in the end, Fizdale and LeBron James also worked together during both of their times with the Miami Heat.
Fizdale was an assistant coach from 2008 to 2016, while James played for Miami from 2010 to 2014. The two won back-to-back titles together in 2012 and 2013.
James’ influence spreads wide as Fizdale has a better chance at helping coach a championship-caliber team with Los Angeles than most rosters around the league.
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