David Fizdale

David Fizdale begins his first season as an assistant coach for the HEAT after serving the previous five seasons as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks. He began his professional career assisting in the HEAT’s video room during the 1997-98 season. Among his responsibilities in his new role, Fizdale will be assisting in the areas of player development, scouting, game preparation and other duties assigned by Head Coach Erik Spolestra.
The 34-year old Fizdale returns to Miami after spending the past four seasons (2004-08) as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks where he played an instrumental role in the development of their young players. He helped the Hawks increase their win total in each of his final three seasons and during the 2007-08 season, they earned the franchise’s first postseason appearance since 1999. He began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors for one season (2003-04).

Directly before joining the Warriors, Fizdale worked as an assistant coach for one season at Fresno State University (2002-03) where his responsibilities included player development and serving as the school’s recruiting coordinator. After concluding his collegiate playing career and spending one year as the HEAT’s video intern in 1997-98, he began his coaching career with a four-year stint (1998-2002) as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of San Diego. During his final year with the Toreros he was the top assistant for coach Brad Holland. While at USD, he was in charge of scheduling, served as the recruiting coordinator and worked in player development and on-court coaching.

A three-year starter at point guard while playing at the University of San Diego, Fizdale was selected to the All-West Coast Conference team after his senior season in 1996. A Los Angeles native, Fizdale earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in sociology from San Diego in 1996. He is single and currently resides in Miami.