 Fizdale in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1974-06-16)June 16, 1974 (age 51) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | John C. Fremont (Los Angeles, California) |
| College | San Diego (1992–1996) |
| NBA draft | 1996:undrafted |
| Position | Point guard |
| Coaching career | 1998–present |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| 1998–2002 | San Diego (assistant) |
| 2002–2004 | Fresno State (assistant) |
| 2003–2004 | Golden State Warriors (assistant) |
| 2004–2008 | Atlanta Hawks (assistant) |
| 2008–2016 | Miami Heat (assistant) |
| 2016–2017 | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 2018–2019 | New York Knicks |
| 2021–2022 | Los Angeles Lakers (assistant) |
| 2023–2025 | Phoenix Suns (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
| |
David Sean Fizdale (born June 16, 1974) is an American professionalbasketball coach who last was an assistant coach for thePhoenix Suns of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). He previously was an associate general manager for theUtah Jazz, an assistant coach for theLos Angeles Lakers, the head coach for theNew York Knicks andMemphis Grizzlies, and was an assistant coach for theAtlanta Hawks,Golden State Warriors and theMiami Heat. He won two championships with the Heat in 2012 and 2013.
Born in Los Angeles, Fizdale attendedFremont High School in Los Angeles, where he played as apoint guard for the school's basketball team.[1] He subsequently attended college at theUniversity of San Diego, where he graduated with aB.A. in communications and a minor insociology. During his senior year, he was also named a member of the All-WCC Team. After a couple years removed from graduating, Fizdale would begin his coaching career by first being an assistant coach for his alma mater from 1998 until 2002 before joiningFresno State University as an assistant coach there for a couple of seasons afterward.
Between 2003 and 2016, Fizdale was anassistant coach for theGolden State Warriors,Atlanta Hawks, andMiami Heat. During his tenure with the Heat, Fizdale coached "Team Shaq", a squad selected byShaquille O'Neal, at the2013 Rising Stars Challenge during the NBA All-Star Weekend.[2] His team was defeated 163–135, byCharles Barkley's "Team Chuck", coached by thenSan Antonio Spurs' assistant coachMike Budenholzer. After the reshuffle of the Heat's coaching staff, Fizdale became an associate head coach afterRon Rothstein decided to retire from his coaching career andBob McAdoo was assigned to the scouting staff.
On May 29, 2016, Fizdale was named as the head coach of theMemphis Grizzlies.[3] He led the Grizzlies to a 43–39 record in the2016–17 season, reaching the Western Conference playoffs. After a 7–12 start to the2017–18 season, including eight consecutive losses, and a publicized fourth-quarter benching ofMarc Gasol, Fizdale was fired from the team on November 27, 2017.[4]
On May 7, 2018, Fizdale was named as the head coach of theNew York Knicks signing a four-year deal with the organization.[5] On December 6, 2019, he was fired by the Knicks after a 4–18 start to their season.[6][7]
On September 15, 2021, Fizdale was hired by theLos Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach.[8]
On June 29, 2022, Fizdale was hired as the associate general manager for theUtah Jazz.[9]
On June 21, 2023, Fizdale was hired by thePhoenix Suns as an assistant coach.[10] Fizdale would later get removed from the team's coaching staff on May 12, 2024, alongside the rest ofFrank Vogel's coaching staff following their hiring of new head coachMike Budenholzer.[11] However, after an attempt to promote him into a front office position later in the month,[12] as well as receive interest in joining theChicago Bulls,[13] Fizdale was reported to return to his role as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns on May 29.[14] His return to the Suns would be made official on August 6.[15] On August 12, 2025, months after head coachMike Budenholzer was fired andCleveland Cavaliers assistant coachJordan Ott was hired over Fizdale to the team's newest head coach due to a stated desire for a change in direction regarding head coaching statuses, it was confirmed that Fizdale would not return to the Phoenix Suns for a third season under a third straight coaching change.[16]
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | 2016–17 | 82 | 43 | 39 | .524 | 3rd inSouthwest | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost inFirst round |
| Memphis | 2017–18 | 19 | 7 | 12 | .368 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| New York | 2018–19 | 82 | 17 | 65 | .207 | 5th inAtlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| New York | 2019–20 | 22 | 4 | 18 | .182 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | 205 | 71 | 134 | .346 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | |||
Fizdale is married to marketer Natasha Sen[17] and has one son from a prior relationship.[18]Natasha's birth father is Roy Singer and he lives inAustralia. Natasha was born inDelhi,India and her mother is Samira Sen, who lives in Canada.
