The Los Angeles Sparks are parting ways with coach Derek Fisher, the team confirmed on Tuesday. Fisher took on the role in December 2018; he was also made general manager in 2020.
The Sparks are off to a 5-7 start on the season, sitting at fourth in the Western Conference. Assistant coach Fred Williams will step in as interim head coach and the Sparks begin a search for the next general manager.
"After a thorough evaluation of the state of our team, the Sparks and GM/Head Coach Derek Fisher have agreed to part ways,” Eric Holoman, managing partner, said in a release.
Fisher, a former NBA player and head coach of the New York Knicks, went 56-46 in his three-plus seasons with Los Angeles. The Sparks advanced to the Western Conference semifinals in his first year, then lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2020 and missed the playoffs in 2021.
"The Sparks and I have mutually agreed to part ways as I shift my focus back to pursuing other opportunities and private endeavors,” Fisher said. “It has been an amazing ride and I wish the entire LA sparks organization great success moving forward.”
(Photo: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)
How surprising is this move?
Chantel Jennings, senior women’s basketball writer: Sparks president Vanessa Shay has been in the job for three weeks, so if the decision is coming from the Sparks’ end, perhaps she had decided that she had seen enough and didn’t want to wait around until the end of the year.
After several lackluster seasons in Los Angeles, why not follow the lead of the Fever and make a midseason coaching change? But if the decision is coming from Fisher’s end, this timing would seem very abrupt.
Who would be the right long-term fit as head coach?
Jennings: I would’ve thought Latricia Trammell, Sparks assistant coach and defensive coordinator, would be in the running for the job, but the fact that she wasn’t named interim head coach gives me a bit of pause. In all likelihood, I see the Sparks going after a former WNBA player.
DeLisha Milton-Jones, who’s headed into her third season at Old Dominion, should get a look. She played for the franchise for five seasons and won two WNBA titles in Los Angeles.
Lindsey Harding should get a look. She was the No. 1 pick in the 2007 WNBA draft, played in the league for a decade (including two seasons for the Sparks) and has been working in the NBA over the past few seasons as a scout and development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers and as an assistant coach/development coach for the Sacramento Kings.
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What will it take for the Sparks to get back into title contention?
Jennings: They need to find their identity, and a new coach and GM with a fresh perspective should be able to do just that. For the past few seasons, it has felt as though there has always been a bunch of talent on the roster but putting it together in a way that makes sense (and wins) is where the team has fallen short.
The Sparks won a title in 2016, but in Fisher’s tenure, the franchise only won one playoff game. In a market like Los Angeles, with the talent that has been on that roster, that’s mind-boggling.