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Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won five NBA championships. He also played for the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Dallas Mavericks. He has also served as president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Fisher played college basketball for the Arkansas–Little Rock Trojans, earning the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 1996. Selected by the Lakers with the 24th pick in the 1996 NBA draft, he spent his first eight seasons with the franchise, winning three consecutive league championships (2000–2002) with teammates Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson. After the 2003–04 NBA season, he signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors, later being traded to the Utah Jazz, whom he helped lead to the Western Conference finals. Due to his daughter's health, he asked to be released from his contract in 2007. He rejoined the Lakers and won two more NBA titles with Bryant and Jackson. In 2012, he was traded to the Houston Rockets, where he bought out his contract and was waived at his request. He then joined the Oklahoma City Thunder for the remainder of the season, playing for the 2012 NBA championship in his eighth Finals appearance. After signing with the 2012–13 Dallas Mavericks he played only nine games before being injured and asking to be released from his contract. He later rejoined the Oklahoma City Thunder for another late-season push. He re-signed with them in the off-season and played in a team-high 81 regular-season games for the team in 2013–14. The following season, he was hired as the head coach of the New York Knicks by Jackson, who had become the team's president. He was fired in 2016, and has since been featured as a broadcast television analyst on Turner Sports' NBA programming. Fisher also joined Spectrum SportsNet for the 2016–17 NBA season to work as an in-studio analyst for the Los Angeles Lakers. On January 19, 2017, Fisher was announced as one of the analysts for Turner Sports' new Players Only programming slate. He was the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 2019 to 2022. Early life Derek Lamar Fisher was born on August 9, 1974, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School in Little Rock off John Barrow, where he was a letterman in basketball. College career He went on to attend the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) for four years, with a major in communications. Fisher concluded his collegiate career at Arkansas-Little Rock second on the school's all-time lists in points (1,393), assists (472), and steals (189). He averaged 12.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists over 112 games and led the team in assists and steals every year. Fisher also set a school record for free throws made in a career (399) and ranked third among all-time UALR leaders in three-point field goals made (125). As a senior, he earned Sunbelt Conference Player of the Year honors after averaging 14.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. In 2005, Fisher pledged $700,000 to UALR towards the construction of its Jack Stephens Center auxiliary gym, since named in his honor, and the establishment of the Fisher Fellows Life Skills program, a mentoring series for UALR student-athletes. Professional career Los Angeles Lakers (1996–2004) Fisher was selected 24th overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, and spent his first eight seasons with them. The Lakers also traded for rookie Kobe Bryant in this draft and the two rookies became great friends. Bryant went on to say that Fisher was his favorite teammate he ever played with. And they won 5 championships together. Fisher made his NBA debut in an early-season game against the Phoenix Suns, tallying 12 points and five assists. Over the course of his rookie season, Fisher appeared in 80 games, averaging 3.9 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 rebounds. He was selected to the Schick Rookie Game during the All-Star Weekend in Cleveland and had 16 points and six assists. In the 1997–98 season, Fisher started 36 of 82 games, backing up Nick Van Exel. He started all 13 games in the playoffs and averaged 6 points per game as the Lakers advanced to the Western Conference finals before losing to the Utah Jazz in 4 games. In the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, Fisher played in all 50 games and started in 21, mostly serving as a backup for veteran Derek Harper. Fisher would once again start in all of the Lakers' playoff games, posting averages of 9.8 points and 4.9 assists per game as the Lakers advanced past the Houston Rockets in the first round before falling to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round in 4 games. Phil Jackson became the Lakers' head coach prior to the 1999–2000 season, and with him brought veteran point guard Ron Harper, who had started for three of Jackson's Chicago Bulls championship teams. Jackson historically preferred big guards. Being both smaller and playing more like a traditional point guard, and not being much of a shooter, Fisher worked hard on his shooting during the offseason to increase his value to the new coach. He started in 22 of 78 games for the season, backing up both Harper and Kobe Bryant when injured. The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals and defeated the Indiana Pacers in 6 games to win the 2000 NBA championship, Fisher's first. Due to a stress fracture in his right foot, Fisher missed the first 62 games of the 2000–01 season. During his absence, the Lakers were not winning as frequently as the previous season, which led to teammates Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal rekindling their feud over the team's offense. Assistant coach Bill Bertka, however, believed a key factor in the team's struggles was the team's defense without Fisher. Fisher returned on March 13, 2001, upgrading the Lakers' defense, and he started the final 20 games of the season, averaging 11.5 points per game. Harper had been the regular starter, but he was sidelined since February 13 with injuries to both knees. The Lakers finished the regular season with an eight-game winning streak, and ended with 56 wins. Fisher started all of the Lakers 16 playoff games as they swept through the Western Conference, averaging 13.4 points per game and shooting a team-best 51 percent from beyond the three-point line. This included a career-high 28 points on 6 for 7 three-point shooting in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs. In the Finals, the Lakers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in 5 games, bolstered by Fisher's 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting from three-point range in game 5 to help clinch the Lakers' second straight title. Injuries limited Fisher to start in 35 of 70 games in the.... Discover the Derek Hunter popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Derek Hunter books.