George Fisher is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and former professional player.

Career

Fisher, a 6’7’’ (2.00 m) forward, played basketball and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

at Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California. Serving as captain of the Alhambra basketball team, he was a First Team All Pacific League and an All Temple City Tournament selection in 1962. Fisher attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, playing for the Utes from 1963 to 1966. He saw action in a total of 79 games, averaging 14.4 points per contest. His best season at the college level came in 1964–65, when he tallied 17.8 points a game. In the 1963–64 season, he led the Utes in rebounding with 8.7 boards per game. Fisher earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and management. Despite having suffered a broken

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

during the 1965–66 campaign, he was selected by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

in the 1966 NBA draft (sixth round, 51st overall). However, Fisher never played in the NBA. After the end of his college career, he coached the freshman team at the University of Utah, while recovering from his leg injury. Later, Fisher went to

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, to play professionally and then moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where he played and coached at Jœuf Homécourt Basket for eight years. From 1979 to 1989, Fisher served as head coach of Élan béarnais Orthez in France. Under his guidance, Orthez won the Korać Cup in 1984. Fisher also won two French national championships with Orthez (1986 and 1987). In 1987, he guided the team to a third-place finish in the final stage of the FIBA European Champions Cup. Over the years, his Orthez team included players like John McCullough,

Paul Henderson Paul Garnet Henderson, (born January 28, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flam ...

Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the K ...

and

Tom Scheffler Tom Scheffler (born October 27, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player. Career Born in St. Joseph, Michigan, Scheffler played collegiately at Purdue University before spending most of his career in Europe playing in Italy, Spa ...

. Fisher left Orthez in 1989. He had offers from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, Maccabi Tel Aviv and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

on the table, but took over the head coaching position at PSG Racing in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. He parted ways with the club during the 1989–1990 season. During his time in France, Fisher worked for the

Banque Nationale de Paris BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the grou ...

as a consultant to Real Estate Asset Acquisition Managers in off-seasons. From 1991 to 1992, Fisher served as head coach of

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

in Greece, where his team included players like

Nikos Galis Nikolaos Georgalis ( el, Νικόλαος Γεωργαλής; born July 23, 1957), commonly known as either Nikos Galis ( el, Νίκος Γκάλης), or Nick Galis, is a retired Greek professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playin ...

, Panagiotis Giannakis and Walter Berry. Fisher moved back to California, he settled in Shell Beach and worked as a

realtor A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

. His former teammate at Utah,

Bucky Buckwalter Morris "Bucky" Buckwalter (born November 22, 1933) is a former National Basketball Association coach and executive, as well as a former coach in the American Basketball Association. Buckwalter grew up in La Grande, Oregon, and played high school ...

, later revealed, that Fisher made him aware of Arvydas Sabonis in the 1980s and also gave his insight on Dražen Petrović, when Buckwalter started considering foreign players as potential recruits for the Portland Trail Blazers who eventually drafted Sabonis in 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, George Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Aris B.C. coaches Basketball coaches from California New York Knicks draft picks Sportspeople from Alhambra, California Basketball players from Los Angeles County, California Utah Utes men's basketball players