The New York Knicks beat off competition from multiple teams to land David Fizdale as their new head coach earlier this month. The former Memphis Grizzlies coach was highly sought after and was interviewed by the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic. But he admitted he couldn't turn down the lure of the Big Apple and an opportunity to lead one of the biggest franchises in the NBA. Upon being appointed, Fizdale immediately laid out his plans for the team and indicated a willingness to have a talk with star player Kristaps Porzingis. With the Latvian currently back in his homeland rehabbing from a torn ACL, this was recently done over the phone and the big man took to Twitter to reveal how positive the conversation was. "Just had a great conversation on the phone with Coach Fiz. Man im excited!!!!! Lets gooo!!!" he tweeted. 

This is certainly great news for the Knicks hierarchy as it indicates that he's fully on board with their decision to hire the 43-year-old. 

Since taking over, coach Fiz has spoken glowingly about Porzingis and has indicated that he wants to build a strong relationship with him. 

He has always been regarded as a players' coach but he fell out with Grizzlies veteran Marc Gasol which ultimately led to his firing from Memphis at the start of the season. 

It's clear that he is looking to learn from his mistake and avoid having the same problems with KP in New York. 

He has stated publicly that it's his top priority to form a strong bond with the 22-year-old who he believes has the ability to become an MVP one day. 

"I won't skip a step. I'll spend a ton of time with he and his family," Fizdale said, per ESPN's Ian Begley.

"I want to hear their experience and what they see going forward for Kristaps and how I can interject and help him in any way become what I think he can be, which is an MVP-caliber player. Part of that goes along with winning. And I know that's what he's ready to do.

"So I want to make sure that they see, from my standpoint, that we're connected, that the vision is the same, that we want the same culture. And that we all have the same thing in mind, which is eventually holding the trophy in New York."

With just one phone conversation, Fizdale has already made a strong impression on the power forward and this bodes well for the future of the Knicks. 

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