Tonight promises to be an emotional one for Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Derek Fisher.
Derek and the Thunder take on his former team in LA tonight (Getty Images).
The Western Conference leading Thunder take to Los Angeles this evening, where they’ll be hosted by Fish’s former team, the Lakers, in a building that holds many special memories for Derek.
"First and foremost, I’m excited to be back in the city, excited to see my friends and brothers that I consider teammates from when I was here," Derek said Thursday morning. "I’m excited to see those guys. I’m excited to see my extended type of friends sitting courtside, ticket holders, people I grew close to over the years when I was here. It’s only been a couple weeks, but it seems like so much longer, so I’m excited to get back and see everyone."
Lakers star Kobe Bryant, a longtime friend and confidant of D-Fish said that he still talks to Derek every day. Though they’ve done it before, during Derek’s seasons in Golden State and Utah, Bryant believes playing against him on Thursday will be strange.
"Seeing him coming into Staples Center in a different uniform is going to be extremely, extremely weird for us all," Bryant told the Los Angeles Times. "It’s going to be strange, him going down to the visitors’ locker room. But I talk to him pretty much every single day, though, still. So in terms of our personal relationship, there really hasn’t been any separation in that sense."
Kobe Bryant expects it to be strange to see Fish in Staples Center wearing a different color.
Coach Scott Brooks noted that Derek "knows Kobe’s game better than anybody." But Fish downplayed his role as a scout.
"Teams know each other extremely well with advanced scouts and technology," he said. "It doesn’t necessarily make things easy, but at least some affirmation is accessible. I’ll be able to add some things in terms of tendencies in personnel, but these coaches are great. They spend hour after hour studying guys. They probably know more than I do about the Lakers."
Bryant and the Lakers have been nearly unbeatable at home this season, victors of 20 of 24 games at the Staples Center. But the Thunder hope they have the antidote in Fish, who has played some of his best games inside Los Angeles’ arena:
"The place that this city and these fans and everyone I grew close to over the years, they and this place will always, always hold a very special place in my heart," Fish said. "I’m just looking forward to getting out there and playing some basketball tonight in front of what used to be the home crowd. Coming in individually, I’m sure it will be a lot of fun. There’s a lot on the line in terms of the two teams, but it’s just exciting."
While he’ll chase his sixth title in another uniform, Derek won five with the Lakers during 12 and a half years on the team. He told assembled media on Thursday that while it wasn’t his choice to leave the LA, he’s happy with where he is now.
"Due to a number of different circumstances, I’m in Oklahoma City now and I’m extremely happy to be," he said. "This is a very special situation, just a great group of players, a great group of guys, the staff, the community, just the right fit at the right time coming off what took place and I’m just as happy as I can be in Oklahoma City and everything that’s gone on."
Tonight’s tip-off is set for 9:40 PST and the game will be televised on TNT.
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