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PODCAST: New coach Derek Fisher talks Los Angeles Sparks opportunity

By Howard Megdal

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 7: Derek Fisher is introduced to the media as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks during a press conference on December 7, 2018 at Luxe City Center Hotel in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 7: Derek Fisher is introduced to the media as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks during a press conference on December 7, 2018 at Luxe City Center Hotel in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The newest WNBA coach goes in-depth on what’s next.

Host Howard Megdal is joined by new Los Angeles Sparks head coach Derek Fisher. The two have a wide-ranging conversation, looking at both the details of how Fisher was hired and the task ahead, operating a roster filled with both stars like Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike, along with developing players like Sydney Wiese and Maria Vadeeva.

Fisher did not shy away from the difficult questions raised by the way his hiring came about—with Sparks general manager Penny Toler making it clear she had no other people in for interviews before hiring her one and only choice in Fisher, something that rubbed many the wrong way.

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“It’s such a large conversation,” Fisher said of the questions surrounding opportunity and not only gender, but race as well. “And I am here to advance that conversation. So much of the time, opportunity comes from relationships. And for women, a lot of times, that’s harder to do, to be in relationships with men in the workplace for so many different reasons. So it’s such a large conversation… but I’m here to advance that conversation, and help steer the growth for women to have the opportunities. I’m here for that. I’m not here to challenge that.”

Fisher also weighed in on the free agency of Chelsea Gray, expressing the desire to see her re-signed by the Sparks, and many other things as well—what he learned from watching Maria Vadeeva, both in person and on video, the way he thinks the Sparks can develop into both a better rebounding team and one that plays at a faster pace, and whether there’s anything short of a championship that will satisfy him in 2019.

Fisher provides an excellent window into his thought process and what we can expect from him in the years ahead.

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