Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is a retired American basketball player and the head coach of the New York Knicks. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He attended Little Rock Central High School and college at Arkansas–Little Rock. He entered the NBA after graduation and played with the Lakers his entire career except for a brief stint with Golden State in 2004–05.
Fisher’s journey to the NBA
Fisher played middle school and high school basketball in Little Rock, Arkansas at Grace Preparatory Academy; he was named First Team All-State and All-Conference as a senior. He finished his senior year averaging 22 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds per game.
Fisher concluded his high school basketball career finishing as state runner-up in wrestling and second place in voting for the Mr. Basketball award (which was given to Scotty Thurman).
Among his high school teammates were future college standouts Steve Thomas and Lorenzen Wright, who went on to enjoy productive NBA careers.
Arkansas Razorbacks 1993–94 Men’s Basketball Roster
In 1993, Fisher declined an athletic scholarship from Michigan and went to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) instead, where he played with Arkansas–Little Rock Trojans men’s basketball team for coach Nolan Richardson from 1993 to 1995.
After two years, he transferred to the University of Arkansas, where he played with the Arkansas Razorbacks men’s basketball team under coach Eddie Sutton for one year. Fisher finished his collegiate career averaging 12.3 points per game in 103 games.
Fisher was selected 24th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1996 NBA draft and spent his first eight seasons as a back-up guard behind All-Stars Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones. He made his NBA debut and first start on November 1, 1996, scoring six points before fouling out against the Golden State Warriors. He was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 2003 with a second-round draft pick for Tom Gugliotta and Lionel Chalmers.
Fisher’s NBA career
Playing behind Van Exel and Eddie Jones, he averaged 3 points per game over his first three years (including 5 games played in the 1997–98 season). Fisher saw an increase in playing time during his fourth year as a Laker, appearing in 80 games and averaging 9.3 minutes; this would be the most productive season of his career at that point.
In 1999, after Van Exel left the team, Fisher began having more significant minutes including some starts where he averaged 12 points per game 4 out of 6 appearances.
How many rings does derek fisher have
Derek has 5 championship rings and 5 all-star appearances. He also has 2 gold medals from his time with the USA men’s national basketball team. His number of championships is the same as the number of students in a classroom, including himself. After being traded from the Lakers to Dallas, Fisher helped lead them to their first-ever NBA Championship.
In 2004-2005 he was named to an all-star team for the first time in his career. In 2007, he signed with Golden State where they went on to win another NBA Championship. In 2012, the 36-year-old announced that he was retiring from basketball and would move into a coaching role.
Derek Fisher’s Retirement Announcement July 2012
On July 3, 2012, Fisher stated he would retire from the NBA after playing 16 years in the league. He said that his new role as coach of the New York Knicks would be his priority.
“I had a great run, my time in professional basketball has been amazing, but I’m ready to begin a new chapter. It’s not about Derek Fisher the player anymore; it’s about Derek Fisher the coach”.
