The Knicks opened training camp Tuesday not in New York City, but in West Point at the U.S. Military Academy.
It's not by accident, either. New head coach Derek Fisher is trying to send a certain message to his team.
“To be a coach with the New York Knicks, starting practice first day here at West Point, where service to others and commitment to others and putting the team first is who these guys are, those are things that we want to be,” Fisher said.
Sure, most new coaches try to put in offensive and defensive schemes as soon as possible in order to give their players more time to grasp the concepts, but Fisher didn't spend any time on the fabled Triangle offense.
Instead, he was focused on defensive rotations and getting the team to work together.
“His message was clear: We walked in this door together, we’re going to win together, we’re going to lose together, but we’re going to have each other’s backs through thick and thin. That’s what we’ve got to have," Carmelo Anthony said.
That message is all well and good to talk about in training camp, but it has to carry over into the season. New York had a fractured locker room last year, particularly with grumblings about then-head coach Mike Woodson.
It was obviously an area that needed to be addressed, and Derek Fisher is going all-in on it. He was a glue guy throughout his career, and that teamwork helped carry him to five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers during his career.
Seeing as New York hasn't won a title since 1973, they better start listening up.
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