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We learned a little about Derek Fisher’s personal life last fall, when Matt Barnes attacked him for dating Barnes’ estranged wife.

Barnes was in the wrong, but that didn’t make Fisher beyond reproach.

Fisher and Barnes were former teammates and friends. Fisher also flew to California during training camp and missed a practice.

Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:

Fisher’s reputation and standing in New York’s locker room went south because of the incident, allowing for the plausibility of rumors — while unfounded at this point — that he was romancing different players’ significant others. One of his former players, Tim Hardaway Jr., was prompted to ask his girlfriend if the rumors of her and Fisher were true. “I’ve seen those. No reaction over here. I know all those are lies. They are going to do whatever they can, especially here in New York (with the media),” Hardaway Jr. told reporters earlier this season. “So I am not even worried about that. I had a talk with my girlfriend. If you ask me, it is not true at all. I am completely positive with her judgment and what she said.”

On one hand, it’s unfair to demonize Fisher merely based on unsubstantiated rumors.

On the other hand, if one of his players found them believable enough to ask his girlfriend about them, that’s a problem for the Knicks.

Correction: Was a problem for the Knicks. They fired Fisher (and traded Hardaway).

Fisher tried to project an image of professionalism. It seems his own players didn’t buy it, and it’s even more apparent they didn’t trust him as a strategist.

No wonder he had to go.