Knicks hire Derek Fisher as head coach

The New York Knicks have hired Derek Fisher as their new coach, with Phil Jackson turning to one of his trustiest former players. Just days after finishing his 18th season, Fisher was hired Tuesday to replace Mike Woodson, who Jackson fired after the season in his first major move as team president. Fisher won five championships playing for Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers. Jackson says that “it has come clear to me” that he and Fisher can form a great partnership again. “He always stepped into the vacuum of leadership, but more than anything else it was the ability of Derek to speak the truth from what the sense of the group was,” Jackson said during a news conference at the Knicks’ training center in Greenburgh, New York. Fisher, 39, was the president of the Players Association during the 2011 lockout. – AP