Derek Fisher’s first attempt at coaching professional basketball didn’t go exactly as he’d hoped.
But his second attempt is going much better.
The former NBA point guard-turned-WNBA coach is one of the top candidates for this season’s Coach of the Year award as the 20-12 Los Angeles Sparks battle the Las Vegas Aces for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. He now coaches on the same Staples Center court he made countless memories on as a player, creating new memories and reaching new heights with a new squad.
Fisher’s coaching style has significantly evolved since lasting just two-thirds of the 2015-16 season with the New York Knicks. In addition to a healthy focus on camaraderie, the 45-year-old welcomes player input while underscoring the importance of fundamentals on the court, according to The Los Angeles Times’ Dylan Hernandez.
Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike lauded Fisher’s approach to coaching.
“He kind of regards us as student-coaches,” Ogwumike said, per Hernandez. “We’re able to have certain conversations with him in-game that contribute to the effectiveness of what we’re doing out there. It rests a lot heavier on Chelsea.”
L.A. point guard Chelsea Gray says Fisher regularly draws on personal experience, as well.
“Him being a point guard and him trusting me so much with the calls, with the leadership role, I think it’s great,” Gray said, per Hernandez.
As for Fisher, well, he simply appreciates the humanity found within the WNBA, something he believes the NBA lacks.
“I think women, in general, care about the other woman’s experience and her teammate’s experience, sometimes too much their opponent’s experience, just because that’s how women are. There’s a care there. There’s a compassion there,” Fisher said.
In fact, he says he’s “having a lot of fun” as the Sparks’ head coach. And he doesn’t seem to return to the “cannibalism” he says exists in the NBA.
“We never cared about each other like that. We just didn’t. It was like, literally, cannibalism in a sense. So it made it hard at times to build team camaraderie, chemistry, compassion for your teammate, etc.”
So at the moment, it seems Fisher is right where he belongs.
