Derek Fisher wants to make it clear that his decision to sign in Oklahoma City wasn’t one he made on a whim, that after rehabbing a knee injury suffered while playing for the Mavericks in December he thought hard about how he wanted the final chapters of his career to be written.
“Over the last couple of months, being out of the game and having a chance to reflect on some things and think about some things, when this opportunity presented itself and I thought about the totality of my career,” he said. “I decided that this was something I deserved to do for myself.”
D-Fish is back in OKC and thrilled for the chance at another title run (Getty Images).
Derek knew that the decision would come with its critics, like many he’s made in the past. But he hasn’t let things like that guide him in the past and he’s not about to start.
“Sometimes as a leader, you can’t make decisions based on what other people are going to think or how they’re going to feel,” he said. “You just do what you think is right at that time and that’s what I’m doing here.”
Among those affected by the move are the Mavericks, who went 5-4 in Derek’s nine games as he quickly ascended from a bench role to starting point guard in Dallas. Since D-Fish left the team, the Mavs are 15-20 and find themselves well out of the playoff race for the first time in over a decade.
But Derek said his intention was never to slight the Mavericks when he asked for his release to spend time with his family by rehabbing.
“I was being open and honest at the time and I’m being open and honest now,” he said. “At the time, I felt strong about the decision on a personal level. It wasn’t anything about Dallas or Mark that I was not happy about. Just personally, I didn’t enjoy being away from my family at the time. I respect Mark
[Cuban], I respected Coach Carlisle, I respect their team,” said Fisher. “That will never change, but it’s not about everyone else necessarily. It’s just about making a decision I felt was best for me at this time.”NEXT UP
After playing just five minutes in Friday’s loss to the Nuggets and sitting out Sunday’s win over the Clippers entirely, Fish hopes to be back on the court Tuesday night when the Thunder return to ChesapeakeEnergy Arena.There they’ll host Derek’s former team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST and the game can be seen on TNT.
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