The NBA veteran opens up about walking away from a $21 million contract to prioritize his infant daughter’s life-saving cancer treatment over his basketball career.
Nearly 20 years after leaving the Utah Jazz, Derek Fisher has explained the family circumstances behind one of the most difficult decisions of his life.
Fisher requested his release from Utah in July 2007 after his 11-month-old daughter, Tatum, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer.
He had three years and approximately $20.6 million remaining on his contract.
Fisher surrendered all of it.
“I had three years, $21 million remaining on my contract,” Fisher said in a recent interview. “Y’all can have all of that money back.”
Fisher said his family needed to relocate to a city capable of providing the specialized medical care Tatum required.
“We’re going to have to live in a city that has the hospitals and the medical care that my daughter needs, regardless of basketball,” Fisher said.
The Fishers faced an urgent timeline.
Fisher recalled not knowing whether Tatum would survive as the family confronted decisions involving surgeries and chemotherapy. Remaining in Utah while attempting to arrange a trade would have prolonged a process that required immediate action.
His family decided to return to Los Angeles, where his then-wife had relatives who could provide additional support.
“It didn’t matter whether I was playing basketball or not,” Fisher said.
The Jazz granted Fisher his release, allowing him to become a free agent without paying him any of the guaranteed salary remaining on his contract.
Fisher described that arrangement as a zero-dollar buyout.
“They kept the money, but I and my family, we had the freedom of choice,” he said.
At the time ... Fisher’s future in basketball remained uncertain.
Contemporary reporting indicated that he had considered multiple cities with appropriate medical resources and had not ruled out retirement. Fisher now says the family’s decision to relocate to Los Angeles was made before he knew where—or whether—he would continue playing.
“The basketball future was all up in the air,” Fisher said. “The original decision was, ‘We’re moving back to L.A. Period. Point blank. And then we’ll figure the rest out from there.’”
Fisher eventually signed a three-year, $14.1 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers later that month.
His departure ended a brief tenure in Utah.
Fisher appeared in all 82 regular-season games for the Jazz during the 2006-07 campaign, averaging 10.1 points and 3.3 assists while helping the team reach the Western Conference finals.
During Utah’s second-round series against Golden State, Fisher traveled to New York for Tatum’s surgery before returning to Salt Lake City during Game 2. He entered the game late in the third quarter and made a key 3-pointer in overtime.
The moment became part of Jazz history.
Fisher’s decision afterward reflected a responsibility extending far beyond it.
“That’s really power and wealth,” Fisher said. “The freedom of the choice, not the money.”
