Many within the WNBA community are still trying to wrap their heads as to why the Los Angeles Sparks would tap Derek Fisher, who did not have much success as an NBA head coach with the New York Knicks, to lead the three-time WNBA champions.
Nevertheless, Fisher was introduced as the new Sparks head coach in an afternoon press conference in downtown Los Angeles along with general manager Penny Toler as well as with Candace Parker, who was sporting her championship ring from 2016.
The presser emanated from the Luxe City Center Hotel and lasted for nearly an hour.
At one point during the presser, Toler admitted that there was a shortlist of potential hires who could replace Brian Agler – except only Fisher’s name was on that shortlist. She even described it as a ‘list of one.’
I can tell you it was a very short list. A short list of one.
–Penny Toler, LA Sparks general manager
She also said that Agler was not forced out of his former post in any way, shape, or form.
It wasn’t like it was a force-out or anything like that. But when he wanted to resign…I accepted the resignation.
–Penny Toler, LA Sparks general manager
The short find was much maligned by fans and press given not only Fisher’s lack of success with the Knicks, and time away from the game, but also for the fact that another man will be coaching a woman’s team while we still have yet to see a woman head coach in the NBA.
According to Toler, it is not about gender, but results.
I don’t look at coaching as man or woman. I look at who’s the best person for the job.
–Penny Toler, LA Sparks general manager
Parker also pushed back on the notion that the Fisher was a step in the wrong direction, and says she hopes we arrive at a point in our society where we can legitimately have conversations about who can be the best person for a job regardless of gender.
If diversity is an issue within the WNBA, it’s not an issue within the LA Sparks and never has been.
–Candace Parker
Fisher also responded to those who believed that it was a bad hire by mentioning that there have been coaches in history that overcame rocky starts and became some of the greatest at their craft.
He also said that lots of great coaches – including Phil Jackson – who he has a history with through his Lakers playing days and his Knicks coaching days, went through tough stretches as well.
The book is not finished yet. If you open a book that’s 300 pages long, you can’t assume how it’s going to end on page 57.
–Derek Fisher, new Sparks head coach
One thing Fisher harped on a lot during the nearly hour-long presser is the ability to build relationships with players.
He said that while his time with the Knicks did not end the way he had hoped, he did learn that a key element of being a successful coach is to establish camaraderie with players and staff. Fisher believes a coach can be a play-calling genius, but without that bond with the players, there is no winning recipe.
Building relationships – that’s the key element.
–Derek Fisher, new Sparks head coach
That’s where my coaching experience really helped me in terms of learning how to communicate with players.
Part of that communication with players likely entails aligning his vision for the Sparks with what the players’ vision is. A good portion of the Sparks roster was around for when the team won a WNBA championship two seasons ago.
Los Angeles wants to get back to the top of the heap of the W, and Fisher understands it is his job to guide them back to where they were in 2016 under Agler. He believes the best way to do it is for everyone to be on the same page.
My goals are to help Candace accomplish what she said she wanted to accomplish – and anybody else on our roster. So my goals are tied to theirs. And those are the conversations that we’ll be having in the coming weeks. It’s one thing for me to want something or have a vision or see things a certain way, but I have to be connected to the way Candace sees it. I have to be connected to the way Nneka [Ogwumike] sees it [or] Chelsea [Gray] sees it.
–Derek Fisher, new LA Sparks head coach
Fisher left the Knicks in 2016, meaning he has been, somewhat, removed from the game for some time. He was asked if he felt he had to prove himself that he can be a professional coach since his time in Gotham did not exactly have a storybook ending.
Yes, I was – I guess – hungry to get back to competing again. But, every opportunity isn’t the right opportunity. Over the last couple of years, I’ve had multiple conversations with teams at the collegiate level, with professional teams on the men’s side.
–Derek Fisher, new Sparks head coach
For Fisher, the opportunity to coach a women’s team is no different from an opportunity to coach a men’s team – and does not see it as a step backwards as some may see it as. He said he has observed a number of women’s basketball coaches, including the late Pat Summitt and Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, who recently joined the 1,000-wins club for coaches.
I spent a lot of my years watching Pat Summitt and Candace at the University of Tennssee and Chamique Holdsclaw and a number of other great players that played at the University of Tennessee. Pat Summitt, to me, she’s my all-time favorite in terms of a women’s basketball coach. And I don’t even want to say ‘women’s basketball coach’ – basketball coach, period.
–Derek Fisher new LA Sparks head coach
What C. Vivian Stringer has done at Rutgers is phenomenal. And so, for me, this opportunity is not a step down, sideways, backwards, somehow different than the men’s game. Basketball is for everyone.
Toler and Fisher also told those in attendance that he is not simply using the Sparks coaching position as a stepping stone to potentially bigger jobs in the NBA.
He’s here. He’s invested.
–Penny Toler, Sparks general manager
Good or bad, it’s still experience.
–Penny Toler, Sparks general manager
Parker mentioned that having someone as head coach who is a constant student of the game can be a huge asset for the Sparks.
Just to be a part of something where somebody loves basketball, where he breathes and sleeps it, I mean, I’m excited about it.
–Candace Parker
Fisher is now assuming the helm of a Sparks team that went to back-to-back WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx from 2016-17 and still made the playoffs last season, but is now in a WNBA that no longer is as top-heavy as it may have been those two seasons.
It can be argued that the competition is stiffer than ever in the W with teams such as the defending champion Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings, Phoenix Mercury, and Las Vegas Aces now firmly in the mix in addition to their rivals in Minnesota.
He compared the Sparks roster to some of the Laker teams he played for in the late 2000s that included Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Trevor Ariza.
I think that this roster has the framework in a very similar way where if we need to play bigger and have size on the court, we can. But if we need to and want to and choose to play smaller – Candace is capable of guarding essentially at the center position so we can play ‘smaller.’
–Derek Fisher, LA Sparks head coach
Fisher also said that he understands the task ahead him, especially with Toler’s history with coaching hires – bring a fourth WNBA championship to Tinseltown.
The opportunity here, the responsibilities that are now on my shoulders and our shoulders, I’m going to take it very seriously.
–Derek Fisher, new LA Sparks head coach
This city has been amazing to me. The city loves this team, I love this team, and I’m looking forward to being the new head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks.
–Derek Fisher, new LA Sparks head coach
With the Sparks filling their head coaching position, this leaves the Dallas Wings as the only team left without a full-time head coach. And a rumor that is slowly, but surely, making the rounds is that LA’s recently departed now-former coach’s next destination could be deep in the heart of Texas.
Sources have confirmed to insidr that Brian Agler has interviewed with the Dallas Wings about the coaching vacancy.#wnbainsidr #wnba #dalWings #BreakingNews
— WNBAinsidr (@WNBAinsidr) December 6, 2018
