Lakers hire Mike D'Antoni as next coach

LOS ANGELES – In a surprising turnabout, the Los Angeles Lakers have hired Mike D'Antoni as their next coach, passing on another reunion with Phil Jackson, D'Antoni's agent told Yahoo! Sports.
The decision came late Sunday, one day after Lakers officials met with Jackson to discuss the possibility of him becoming the franchise's coach a third time. Jackson, league sources said, was seeking greater personnel control, a relaxed travel schedule and a two-year contract that would pay him at least $10 million a season.
D'Antoni, 61, signed a four-year contract with the Lakers, said his agent, Warren LeGarie. He recently underwent knee surgery and is awaiting his doctors' clearance as to when he can travel from New York to Los Angeles. A firm timetable for when he can begin coaching has yet to be established.
"I love him," Kobe Bryant said of D'Antoni via email early Monday. Bryant wouldn't comment on Jackson.
D'Antoni and his representatives – like most of the NBA – fully expected Jackson to return to the Lakers and were stunned to hear from team officials Sunday night.
"Mike thought it was a done deal that Phil Jackson was going to be the Lakers coach again," one league source said. "No one was more surprised that it didn't happen than Mike."
D'Antoni's hiring reunites him with All-Star point guard Steve Nash, who signed with the Lakers in the offseason and has been recently sidelined by a leg injury. D'Antoni coached Nash in Phoenix, where they won at least 50 games for four consecutive seasons and advanced to the Western Conference finals in 2005 and '06. D'Antoni left the Suns after the 2007-08 season and was quickly hired to coach the New York Knicks. He went 121-167 in three-plus seasons with the Knicks before resigning on March 14 of last season.
The Los Angeles Times first reported D'Antoni's hiring.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--lakers-hire-mike-d-antoni-as-next-coach-12101909.html

Another dumb move IMO. As Jake T said and D'Antoni's last coaching stint proves, he will fall short of the Lakers goals. More money down the drain.

bad move

Jackson would have led to another championship

Im in the minority but I wouldnt have hired Jackson either. He wanted more control and didnt want to travel to all away games. That would have led to a dysfunctional team. D'Antoni was a better choice between the two

When is Shaq coming back...........

Suns would have won the title the year - Bruce Bowen body checked Steve nash into the announcers table and two of Nash's teammates left the bench to confront the coward.

Those two got suspend and Nash was not exactly the same for game 6 or 7, the suns lost that series to the spurs who went on to win the title that year. That was their year.

I think this is not the best fit for LA.. they normally go by the theory defense wins championships and that is why when kobe goes for 50 they struggle. lol

I expect there to be more scoring with D Antoino but it won't be the savior of their season imo

-murph

I'll have fun watching this team implode.

not a great fit for the Lakers but really look at the teams D'Antoni has had before. He geared the offense to be high powered. He did not stack the team with defense players. His teams were purposely set up with shooters & scores. Now look at this Lakers team. Kobe Howard & Artest (I will not refer to him as World Peace) they have constantly been 1st team all defense in their careers and that was not because of a coach but individual play. They have the talent to score points and play great defense. If Lakers do not win D'Antoni will be another scapegoat when actuality, if this doesnt work this year, I am blaming the players

Mr_Mark said:

not a great fit for the Lakers but really look at the teams D'Antoni has had before. He geared the offense to be high powered. He did not stack the team with defense players. His teams were purposely set up with shooters & scores. Now look at this Lakers team. Kobe Howard & Artest (I will not refer to him as World Peace) they have constantly been 1st team all defense in their careers and that was not because of a coach but individual play. They have the talent to score points and play great defense. If Lakers do not win D'Antoni will be another scapegoat when actuality, if this doesnt work this year, I am blaming the players

Click to expand...

Kobe and World-War may been good defensive players at one time, but at this point in their career, I don't see them playing lock-down defense.

Jackson wanted way too many perks; couple that with the fact that they're not beating Miami regardless of the coach and it's an easy call to pass on him.

Great move... Fits the team great

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lakers-611469-antoni-year.html
Sports

Heisler: D'Antoni to return as Lakers coach

<!--googleon: all--> BY MARK HEISLER
NBA COLUMNIST
<!--googleoff: all--> Published: April 25, 2014 Updated: 9:42 p.m.

<!--googleon: all-->

<!--googleoff: all-->
<!-- end articleExtras --><!--googleon: all-->Ready for Mike D’Antoni III? After 10 days of soul searching, the key figures in Lakers management are agreed on bringing back D’Antoni for a third season as coach, a source with knowledge of the deliberations told the Register.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> Keeping D’Antoni, of course, would be unpopular among Lakers fans, united in their desire to see him fired and Jim Buss resign.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> The Lakers aren’t commenting, but Jimbo’s not planning on leaving. With Pau Gasol making no secret of his dissatisfaction and Kobe Bryant reportedly in favor of a change, D’Antoni was widely expected to be fired.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> But one thing you’ve got to love about the Lakers – I do, anyway – they don’t always do the easy thing.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> D’Antoni took himself out of the running for the Marshall University coaching job last week, which went to his brother, Dan.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> However, reports from West Virginia that the Lakers told Mike he was returning are incorrect.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> D’Antoni decided he didn’t want to return to Marshall, where he once starred, in any case.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> The Lakers have yet to inform D’Antoni of anything, but they intend to keep him, absolving him of blame for the 27-55 finish without Bryant and Steve Nash for 141 of a possible 162 games.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> Nor are they discomfited by Gasol’s announcement on his website. (“I’ve never concealed the fact that D’Antoni’s style doesn’t suit my game. … I don’t know if my decision will be swayed by whether Mike stays or leaves. Obviously, the coach is a very important factor for any team.”) Jeanie Buss, who noted recently, “I’m the boss,” is continuing her preference to leave basketball decisions to the basketball people.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> Jim is aligned with GM Mitch Kupchak, a steadfast D’Antoni defender emerging as an ever-stronger figure with a multi-year extension in the wake of their misadventures.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> Despite local anguish about leadership, the Lakers have a plan. It’s just not one that anyone likes … starting with Bryant, who must have thought more was possible when he signed that two-year, $48.5 million extension … which may have served as a wake-up call for Jeanie and Jim, who did it, to return direction to the professionals.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> If they hoped to bag a front-line player and a blue-chip draftee this offseason, who knew there would be few blue-chippers and no marquee free agents?<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> It’s true, the Lakers can be trying, or, depending on your point of view, comical. A rare combination of genius and dysfunction, it’s amazing they could get out of bed, much less win five titles from 2000 to ’10 as the Kobe-Shaquille O’Neal feud broke up the team that won three in a row … and Jeanie and Phil Jackson became a power couple, alienated from Jim … with their father disinclined to bring her fiancé back again.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> Getting the big things right makes up for a lot. Jerry Buss had a poor boy’s ambition, a gambler’s daring and the humility to let his professionals run things, not only with the iconic Jerry West but the low-key Kupchak.<!--googleoff: all-->
<!--googleon: all--> The Jerrys’ coup came five titles into Buss’s tenure, between Johnson’s 1991 retirement and Shaq and Kobe’s 1996 arrival, having saved the cap space that gave them the leverage.

So basically forfeiting next season. Again.

It's now appropriately called Tanking......

VIEJO DINOSAUR said:

It's now appropriately called Tanking......

Click to expand...

lol