The New York Knicks are buying into David Fizdale’s no-nonsense approach and Tim Hardaway Jr. is loving that he treats everyone equally.
Everyone has experience with it at some point in their life. You felt like a coach was showing favoritism to another player at your expense. If not a coach maybe it was your boss. The fact is, no one likes when favoritism affects decisionmaking.
The good news for New York Knicks fans is that favoritism will not rule in Madison Square Garden. David Fizdale’s open competition for roster spots is winning over the locker room. Tim Hardaway Jr. — a player David Fizdale has a prior relationship with — is thrilled with Fizdale’s approach.
“He doesn’t show any favoritism to myself, treats everybody equal out here on the floor,’’ Hardaway told Marc Berman of the New York Post. “Growing up, knowing Fiz, going back to the days of my dad playing with the Heat, Pat Riley, he knew when I was out here running on the court as a little kid. Me going back after college, during college, and watching the Heat in the playoffs, saying a few words [to him]. It was just mutual respect.”
There are no guarantees that Hardaway cracks the starting unit, but he would appear to be the favorite to start at shooting guard. Of course, he’ll have to prove his worth in training camp and preseason.
“Everybody has to compete,’’ Hardaway told Berman. “No spots are given. Everything is earned. So you’ve got to go out there and play with heart, play with passion. He’s going to make the right decision, put the five guys that he wants on the floor to start the game and we go on from there.”
Culture is often an overused buzzword, but it’s hard to dispute that this appears to be the culture of a team developing before our very eyes.
