Lakers: D'Antoni to Lakers..

[DPG21920]

Who said Phil has none?

[Raven]

He was coaching Melo for crying out loud...Back then Melo finally looks decent but will it last....I submit into evidence that Kobe, Dwight and Nash are no Melo...they're hard nosed and proven winners...plus they admire and respect Dan...Kobe grew up idolizing Dan before any of us even knew who he was...Dan gets a bad rap...But he's never had the defensive players that he could coach up...He's simply NEVER had the players...Now he has Artest, he has Dwight and Kobe is still average..In your hate of LA - I think you guys are seriously over playing your hand on this one...it's a great hire for what we need at the moment...

dwight and nash are hard nosed proven winners? seems like you're getting desperate.

[Mugen]

How many injuries have they played with vs. Timmy. Dude you don't even want to go there...

i guess quitting on your respective teams last year and getting your pushed annually in the playoffs make you "hard nosed and proven winners"

[Clipper Nation]

Tbh, Nash's nose clearly isn't THAT hard...

[Banzai]

Tbh, Nash's nose clearly isn't THAT hard...

looks young in that picture.

[bugmenot]

looks young in that picture.

It was a long time ago that Tony Parker busted Steve Nash's facial playoff cherry.

[dbreiden83080]

Mike Brown must be like "I got -canned so they could hire Mike Fn D'antoni, WOW"

[Banzai]

should get interesting now...

[Bynumite]

Between the hours of Mike Brown's firing and a meeting on Saturday morning with history's most accomplished coach, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak privately told people there was one candidate: Phil Jackson.

Jackson wanted to humiliate Lakers vice president Jim Buss far more than he wanted to coach the team. He wanted significant allowances on travel, coaching duties and an ability to veto player personnel moves that didn't fit his vision. With an unprecedented 11 coaching championships, Jackson had every right to make unprecedented demands. He doesn't have the right to be surprised when the Lakers rejected them and hired a pliable, cheaper coach in Mike D'Antoni.

"Phil wanted Jim Buss to walk away with his tail between his legs," one source with knowledge of the discussions told Yahoo! Sports. "He thought he had time to still negotiate with them, and see how much they would give him."

[timvp]

^tl;dr, Baby Buss didn't want to go back in the shadows

[Budkin]

Welp, no rings for D12 and Nash... why would they pass on Phil? The guy could have turned that team into instant champs.

[purplengold]

we needed da elite ego manager but Toni an upgrade n he show interest in hiring defensive assistants so ima thinkin he knows he canna run lakers like Knicks. least Kobe gon be happy that he can speak Italian wit somebody

[djohn2oo8]

@ Laker Fan trying to convince himself that Phil MFin' Jackson wouldn't have been an upgrade over Mike D'Antoni. Come on now.

They were trying to justify the Mike Brown hiring at the time too

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

...but didn't Culb claim to be a Suns hater?

Yes. He blindly hated players and coaches for the Suns while blindly loving players and coaches on the Lakers. His views of Steve Nash have probably done a complete 180 since LA traded for him.

[JamStone]

Will be interesting to see how D'Antoni integrates Dwight into the offense. I think Kobe and Pau will be fine adjusting to his system. And Nash obviously can play in his offense. The key is to get Dwight comfortable and productive in it. It will probably be a struggle. One of the issues, regardless who the coach is or was going to be, is the Lakers lack of quality depth. Although Jamison does seem like he could fit under D'Antoni's style of play. The Lakers do need to find better shooters to surround their core four starters.

Even though none of us know how things will turn out with D'Antoni, I actually think it was a wise decision not to hire Phil Jackson, no matter who they ended up with. There are just too many issues with Phil. He's already had his last hurrah, really old now, health concerns, whether he'd be able to coach all the games or conduct all the practices, and whether he would have too much control and power (even though it's been unsubstantiated, I wouldn't doubt him wanting things that have been rumored in the news from 3-4 times more money in salary, some stake in ownership of the Lakers, and choosing his own successor after he's done). Just too many complications with Phil. And who knows if he'd stick around after the season? Even if it wasn't D'Antoni, I don't think the Lakers would have been wise to just go back to Phil.

I wonder if Nate McMillan was ever an option.

[DAF86]

Will be interesting to see how D'Antoni integrates Dwight into the offense. I think Kobe and Pau will be fine adjusting to his system. And Nash obviously can play in his offense. The key is to get Dwight comfortable and productive in it. It will probably be a struggle. One of the issues, regardless who the coach is or was going to be, is the Lakers lack of quality depth. Although Jamison does seem like he could fit under D'Antoni's style of play. The Lakers do need to find better shooters to surround their core four starters.

Even though none of us know how things will turn out with D'Antoni, I actually think it was a wise decision not to hire Phil Jackson, no matter who they ended up with. There are just too many issues with Phil. He's already had his last hurrah, really old now, health concerns, whether he'd be able to coach all the games or conduct all the practices, and whether he would have too much control and power (even though it's been unsubstantiated, I wouldn't doubt him wanting things that have been rumored in the news from 3-4 times more money in salary, some stake in ownership of the Lakers, and choosing his own successor after he's done). Just too many complications with Phil. And who knows if he'd stick around after the season? Even if it wasn't D'Antoni, I don't think the Lakers would have been wise to just go back to Phil.

I wonder if Nate McMillan was ever an option.

Will probably try to play him on the role of Stoudamire on the Suns. The problem is how to fit both Dwight and Pau on the same schemes, I see Gasol taking a lot of corner threes, tbh.

[Koolaid_Man]

Will be interesting to see how D'Antoni integrates Dwight into the offense. I think Kobe and Pau will be fine adjusting to his system. And Nash obviously can play in his offense. The key is to get Dwight comfortable and productive in it. It will probably be a struggle. One of the issues, regardless who the coach is or was going to be, is the Lakers lack of quality depth. Although Jamison does seem like he could fit under D'Antoni's style of play. The Lakers do need to find better shooters to surround their core four starters.

Even though none of us know how things will turn out with D'Antoni, I actually think it was a wise decision not to hire Phil Jackson, no matter who they ended up with. There are just too many issues with Phil. He's already had his last hurrah, really old now, health concerns, whether he'd be able to coach all the games or conduct all the practices, and whether he would have too much control and power (even though it's been unsubstantiated, I wouldn't doubt him wanting things that have been rumored in the news from 3-4 times more money in salary, some stake in ownership of the Lakers, and choosing his own successor after he's done). Just too many complications with Phil. And who knows if he'd stick around after the season? Even if it wasn't D'Antoni, I don't think the Lakers would have been wise to just go back to Phil.

I wonder if Nate McMillan was ever an option.

Nice take...btw Pistons should be eligible for a top 3 pick next year...good luck

[Leetonidas]

Lakerfan trying to claim this is a good move holy I've seen everything

[pass1st]

Lakerfan trying to claim this is a good move holy I've seen everything

TimVP seems to think it was a good move as well, or are we going to ignore this and trash on lakerfans solo?

[Spursfan092120]

L.A. Suns...where's Culbear when you would sincerely like to hear his take on this

This...definitely.

[Leetonidas]

TimVP seems to think it was a good move as well, or are we going to ignore this and trash on lakerfans solo?

unlike most spurfans i don't fellate timvp after every post. his opinion is not fact tbh

[pass1st]

unlike most spurfans i don't fellate timvp after every post. his opinion is not fact tbh

But it's not only select few lakerfan agreeing with the move, so let's not play favorites and solo a group out. Personally, I don't like the move but anything beats Brown. Keeping Bickerstaff as HC might actually have been a step up.

[jag]

[Leetonidas]

But it's not only select few lakerfan agreeing with the move, so let's not play favorites and solo a group out. Personally, I don't like the move but anything beats Brown. Keeping Bickerstaff as HC might actually have been a step up.

sry brah but its easier to refer to you all as a collective rather than individually. i'm surprised that ANY lakerfan thinks D'antoni is a good hire considering some of the coaches in their history. then again he is replacing Mike Brown so see the addition by subtraction angle

[DPG21920]

But it's not only select few lakerfan agreeing with the move, so let's not play favorites and solo a group out. Personally, I don't like the move but anything beats Brown. Keeping Bickerstaff as HC might actually have been a step up.

I think it was a good move all things considered. The difference is Laker fan, now that Phil is out, is doing a 180 on what they were just saying when they thought Phil was in.