The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Mike D’Antoni, signing the former coach of the Suns and Knicks to a four-year contract to replace Mike Brown.
The Lakers and D’Antoni’s agent, Warren LeGarie, confirmed the deal two days after the Lakers fired Brown five games into the season.
D’Antoni got the high-profile job running the 16-time NBA champions after negotiations broke down with former Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The 11-time NBA champion coach spoke to the club’s top brass at the weekend about a return.
Lakers owners Jerry and Jim Buss instead went with D’Antoni, who spent five seasons coaching Lakers point guard Steve Nash in Phoenix. Nash won two MVP awards while running D’Antoni’s signature up-tempo offence, and they won at least 54 games in each of D’Antoni’s last four seasons.
D’Antoni then coached New York for the past four seasons, resigning last March after a largely unsuccessful tenure featuring just one play-off appearance and no post-season victories.
Nash and Kobe Bryant both expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of playing for D’Antoni, although Bryant eagerly campaigned for a third stint for Jackson on the Lakers’ bench. Bryant idolised D’Antoni while growing up in Italy, where D’Antoni was a star player in the Italian league.
