Derek Fisher knows what it takes to win an NBA Championship. The owner of 5 rings as a player, Fisher helped guide the Los Angeles Lakers, and 2 time NBA scoring champion Kobe Bryant, to the pinnacle of basketball, all under the lookful eye of legendary head coach Phil Jackson.
Jackson, 69 and recovering from multiple knee operations, has since retired from coaching. In March, he accepted the President of Basketball Operations title for the New York Knicks. No longer patrolling the sidelines himself, he must now guide Fisher as he attempts to lead another former scoring champion, Carmelo Anthony, to the Holy Grail of basketball, the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship trophy.
Fisher, who retired from playing after last season and now becomes the latest NBA player-turned-rookie head coach, has been surrounded with an assistant coaching staff hand picked by Jackson. The Knicks have come to resemble the Los Angeles Lakers East. Led by former Laker assistants Kurt Rambis and Jim Clemens, Fisher has the supporting cast he needs to implement the famous Triangle Offense.
The New York Knicks kick off the 2014/15 season next week, in what promises to be the most looked Knicks season in recent memory. New York City is buzzing with the arrival of Jackson and the new regime. Still questions abound, with many commentators, including former Laker Shaquille O'Neill, questioning the triangle's ability to bring a title to New York without a second superstar.
"For the triangle to work, you need to have two superstars," O’Neal said "It’s been proven over time. Look at what Phil needed to win his championships in Chicago. Then look what he had in L.A., with me and Kobe. You have to have two superstars playing in the triangle to win championships."
With the re-signing of Anthony this summer to a five year $124 million contract, Fisher has his elite scorer to build around. Complementary talent will have to wait. With the expiring contracts of Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargniani coming off the books at the end of the season, President Jackson will have cap space to work with, but not enough for a max contract. Jackson will have his work cut out for him finding a second superstar to pair with Anthony.
Big news out of the NBA came two weeks ago in the form of an announced television deal worth upwards of $23 billion. This has led to speculation that following the 2015/16 season a large salary cap increase could be in the offing. The Knicks will need every dollar of it with the likes of Kevin Durant and LeBron James projected to lead the costless-agent class that year.
New York looked LeBron make his decision four years ago like a window shopper with his face pressed up against the glass. The pairing of Stoudemire and Anthony never took off, and Stoudemire's contract has been an albatross around the franchise's neck. Jackson and Fisher are betting on their team-first culture and the triangle to lure the second superstar the Knicks have been searching for since the drafting of Patrick Ewing.
Will the Knicks make the playoffs this year? Will Jackson and Fisher be able to find a second superstar to play alongside Anthony? Will Fisher be as effective as a head coach as he was as a floor general? Only time will give the answers to these questions, but one thing is certain.
The culture of the New York Knicks is being transformed in front of our eyes.
The Zen Master and the Fisher King believe they are on the road to a championship and all of New York is looking. Time will tell if they will grasp the Grail, or look it slip through their fingers.