David Fizdale Believes the Knicks Have a Fortnite Problem

Fizdale and the Knicks are last in the East at 11–47.

David Fizdale has faced a slate of challenges in his first season with the Knicks as New York exits the All-Star break last in the Eastern Conference at 11–47. In addition to the Knicks' usual bout of controversies and talent deficiencies, Fizdale is now battling his team's affection for the video game Fortnite. 

"Fortnite, that’s my competitor right now," Fizdale told The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov in December. "Fortnite is undefeated."

New York's young players did little do dissuade Fizdale of his theory on Wednesday. 

“We saw what he said about it. And I kind of figured he was talking about us a little bit. But it kind of is a distraction for us," rookie center Mitchell Robinson told Vorkunov. "We’d be up all night to like 3 in the morning playing that game. We need our sleep, for our energy to get us up higher, and stuff like that. I see where he was coming from.”

Fizdale reiterated his concern regarding the popular video game on Wednesday.

"You don’t know who it is at home doing it, but I think this generation, they are an online generation," Fizdale said. "It’s still a bunch of blue light in their eyes keeping them up all night. I do get concerned with how much rest they get. How it affects reaction time and irritability, things like that. So, yeah. Guys are different. Some guys aren’t really into it like that. Then there’s other guys.”

Robinson said he now limits his Fortnite time as the Knicks attempt to rebound from their 1–18 stretch prior to All-Star break. New York hosts Minnesota on Friday with tip-off from Madison Square Garden slated for 7:30 p.m. ET.