Derek Fisher fired as head coach of WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, source confirms

The Los Angeles Sparks have fired head coach Derek Fisher, a source confirmed to ESPN.

Assistant Fred Williams will serve as interim head coach, the source added.

Fisher, who won five championships playing with the Lakers and previously served as a coach for the Knicks, took over as head coach in Los Angeles in 2019 and later as general manager in December 2020. He finished his career with the Sparks with a 54-46 record.

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The Sparks were hoping to rebound from a 12-20 campaign last season in which they missed the postseason for the first time since 2011. Despite bringing in four-time All-Star Liz Cambage and the 2020 No. 4 overall draft pick Chennedy Carter in the offseason, the Sparks are just 5-7 and in eighth place in the standings to start the 2022 season, which included a four-game losing streak last month.

The three-time champion Sparks, one of the three remaining founding franchises in the WNBA, won one playoff game in Fisher's three full seasons in Los Angeles.