Knicks' Evan Fournier: 'My season has been over for a very long time'
Knicks guard Evan Fournier looks on against the Washington Wizards in the second half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Friday, March 18, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
MIAMI — Evan Fournier was among the Knicks reflecting on a season that had just ended Friday night.
“Reflecting on it?” he said. “My season has been over for a very long time, actually. This officially is the end, but my season was over a long time ago.”
Fournier began this season as the incumbent starter at shooting guard, a position earned by not just being in the second season of a four-year, $73 million deal but by doing his job in his first season in New York — setting a franchise record for three-point field goals made.
But it was apparent that he was a placeholder until Quentin Grimes was ready to provide the Knicks with shooting help and be a defensive upgrade.
That came after seven starts, when Fournier was sent to the bench. After 13 games, he was out of the rotation. He appeared in only 14 more games, mostly in garbage time and never in the postseason.
With one guaranteed season left on his contract, he isn’t free to leave, but he has little doubt that he’s gone.
“You know I’m not gonna be back,” Fournier said. “There’s no way they’re gonna keep me. I would be very surprised if they do. So we’ll see. It’s obviously not in my hands, though. Yeah. I mean, wouldn’t you guys be surprised? Eleven years in, big contract, they’re obviously trying to develop the young guys. I didn’t play this year, so why would you bring me back?
“I was just being myself. What else am I gonna do? Bitch at guys? Be unreasonable and just go on Twitter and go crazy? I’m not that guy. I understand it’s a business. I know who I am as a player. Nothing changed. Sometimes things just don’t work out.
“They wanted to move on, and you can’t argue that decision, so it is what it is.”
He never complained through the season and kept working, hopeful that a chance would come — and if it didn’t, he would be ready for the next opportunity somewhere else.
“In the playoffs, it’s even harder because of the intensity and you wanna help and you see the crowd,” he said. “But, you know, I knew it wasn’t gonna happen, so try to stay positive with the guys, try to help, talk to a few of the players that don’t have the experience.
“Did I feel like I could help? I mean, I felt like I could help all season, so yeah, for sure.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
