When the Utah Jazz’s head coaching job opened up earlier this month after Quin Snyder’s resignation, there was some talk that former NBA head coach David Fizdale could be a candidate for the position.
There has never ended up being reporting that Fizdale interviewed for the job, but on Saturday, New York Knicks beat writer Ian Begley of SNYtv reported that Fizdale is interviewing “for a front office position” with the Jazz.
Exactly what that position would be isn’t clear, especially as NBA franchise front offices are ever growing larger.
The day after Snyder resigned, Substack’s Marc Stein wrote that Jazz part owner Dwyane Wade “could push the team to consider Lakers assistant coach David Fizdale for the (head coaching job) after Wade’s years in Miami alongside Fizdale when he worked as an assistant under Erik Spoelstra.”
Indeed, Fizdale was an assistant coach with the Miami Heat from 2008-2016 following stints as an assistant at his alma mater San Diego, Fresno State, then in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks.
While with the Heat, Fizdale was seen as a strong candidate to be an NBA head coach, and he was hired to lead the Memphis Grizzlies in May of 2016.
That lasted just 18 months however, before Fizdale was fired in November of 2017.
In May of 2018, he was hired as head coach of the New York Knicks but was fired in December of 2019.
Fizdale, 48, spent last season as an assistant with the Lakers under head coach Frank Vogel, who was fired this spring and has been reported to be a candidate to replace Snyder with the Jazz.