Marcus Morris has been keeping David Fizdale up at night — not as a headache, but as a source to lessen the Knicks coach’s worries.
“Always,” Fizdale said. “I mean, it’s like I almost expect to get a text from Marcus at night: ‘Coach, what do you need for the next day? What do you need for shootaround? What do you need for practice? Is there anything else I can be doing to help?’ ”
In a season that has started without much consistency, Morris has been the Knicks’ most consistent player on the court. Through 14 games, he is averaging a career-high 18.6 points, on 40.9 percent shooting and 45.5 percent from 3, in addition to 5.9 rebounds per game.
But the veteran forward has also made his impact felt off the court.
Fizdale has often mentioned the veteran forward speaking up in tough postgame or practice settings when the Knicks have needed it most. It’s part of the package that fell into their laps this summer when Morris backed out of an agreement with the Spurs and instead signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Knicks.
“I can’t rave about his leadership enough,” Fizdale said Tuesday. “I think he’s an excellent leader. I’ve been around some great basketball leaders and he is an excellent leader. One of the best I’ve been around. All these guys respect him. His way of going about it is very selfless. He always owns his own stuff first before he tells someone else what to do.”
Morris is in for a homecoming Wednesday night against the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia native said he typically has around 50 family members and friends on hand when he plays there.
Morris played in some high-pressure games in Philadelphia the last two seasons as a member of the Celtics, battling the 76ers for Eastern Conference supremacy, but will now enter the building leading a Knicks team that is still trying to find its footing.
“It’s always good to go home,” Morris said after the Knicks blew out the Cavaliers on Monday night at the Garden. “I’m so close now that my family can come here and see me. It’s going to be fun.”
