After the news broke earlier Thursday that the New York Knicks officially hired their new head coach in David Fizdale, one player who seemed very happy about it was Knicks shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr.
The 26-year-old took to Twitter to reference coach Fizdale's epic rant from the 2017 NBA playoffs when he was the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.
TAKE THAT FOR DATA #KnicksWay
— Tim Hardaway Jr (@T_HardJR) May 3, 2018
After the Grizzlies lost 96-82 in Game 2 of the first round to the San Antonio Spurs, Fizdale was not happy about what he believed was biased officiating in favor of the Spurs and legendary head coach Gregg Popovich.
Before Fizdale ended his press conference, he remained silent, looked around at members of the media and then said four words that resonated around the room.
“We don’t get the respect that these guys deserve because Mike Conley doesn’t go crazy, he has class and he just plays the game,” coach Fizdale said. “But I’m not going to let them treat us that way. I know Pop’s got pedigree and I’m a young rookie, but they’re not going to rook us. That’s unacceptable. That was unprofessional. My guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game, and they did not even give us a chance. Take that for data!”
That is the kind of passion that the Knicks will need going forward, as they have quite a lot of work to do before they get back to the playoffs again. Fizdale will try to end the playoff drought with Hardaway and Kristaps Porzingis leading the way for his team.
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