OT: Mike D'Antoni steps down as Lakers head coach

[Mainstreet]

RealGM is reporting Mike D'Antoni has stepped down as the Lakers head coach.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/233194/Mike-DAntoni-Steps-Down-As-Head-Coach-Of-Lakers

 

[Cheesebeef]

What a disaster of a career he's had without Nash. Awful with the Nuggets, Knicks and Lakers.

Will any NBA team ever be dumb enough again to give him a HC job or have people finally realized he's this decades version of Paul Westphaul?

 

[Mainstreet]

Looking back, Steve Nash was the only PG that could properly execute D'Antoni's offensive scheme known as SSOL. After D'Antoni left the Suns, it fell apart. Obviously, Steve Nash was not the same player when he arrived at the the Lakers.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Happy days are here again! Mike D'Antoni resigns as the Lakers coach. I couldn't be happier!

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 1, 2014

Geez.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Geez.

Yeah...that seems a tad classless.

 

[D-Dogg]

Not that I'm sad, but there is ABSOLUTELY no way they'd pick up another year on his contract, and no need to have him lame duck a season. Good move on his part to resign because it saves the Lakers from having to outright fire him.

Couldn't even effectively tank the season, either. Kept winning very losable games.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

I bet he lands in Minnesota.

 

[JustWinBaby]

I bet he lands in Minnesota.

I don't know if their owner is smart enough to hire him. Mike would be perfect for that team. He would make that team flat out scary. They have enough talent to beat anyone and they did this season. They just need a leader to get them to where they need to be on a nightly basis.

If that happens all of his detractors will then come up with some nonsense to give credit to Kevin Love or Ricky Rubio.

I expect Mike and his agent have a commitment from someone. Why else would he walk away from $4 Mil.

There are rumors that Brian Colangelo could end up in Detroit to replace Dumars. However that roster is a mess other than Drummond.

I expect he will be employed sooner than later. It is just a matter of where.

Seriously, why would he stay in LA? The Laker future is really quite bleak unless Kobe comes back healthy, very unlikely, or he is replaced with new talent.

What free agent would really want to play alongside Kobe for any reason other than the money. I expect any good ones will play for any other team than one that has Kobe Bryant on it.

Mike made the right decision.

 

[Catlover]

I don't know if their owner is smart enough to hire him. Mike would be perfect for that team. He would make that team flat out scary. They have enough talent to beat anyone and they did this season. They just need a leader to get them to where they need to be on a nightly basis.

If that happens all of his detractors will then come up with some nonsense to give credit to Kevin Love or Ricky Rubio.

I expect Mike and his agent have a commitment from someone. Why else would he walk away from $4 Mil.

There are rumors that Brian Colangelo could end up in Detroit to replace Dumars. However that roster is a mess other than Drummond.

I expect he will be employed sooner than later. It is just a matter of where.

Seriously, why would he stay in LA? The Laker future is really quite bleak unless Kobe comes back healthy, very unlikely, or he is replaced with new talent.

What free agent would really want to play alongside Kobe for any reason other than the money. I expect any good ones will play for any other team than one that has Kobe Bryant on it.

Mike made the right decision.

He wanted to stay but he didn't want to stay as a lame duck coach. The fact they weren't willing to extend him meant the writing was on the wall. He worked wonders with that group of players this year but he was going to be up against it next season. Walking away makes sense even if he never coaches again. And I wouldn't be surprised if he never coached again.

 

[az jam]

I like D'Antoni. He never had a real chance in LA. The Lakers have become a very dysfunctional organization. Mike is a first class person.

 

[Mainstreet]

Just guessing, but I bet DA was offered a buyout on the 2014-15 season which made leaving more palatable under the circumstances.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't know if their owner is smart enough to hire him. Mike would be perfect for that team. He would make that team flat out scary. They have enough talent to beat anyone and they did this season. They just need a leader to get them to where they need to be on a nightly basis.

If that happens all of his detractors will then come up with some nonsense to give credit to Kevin Love or Ricky Rubio.

And if he fails there miserably and quits/is fired for the fourth time, I'm sure you 'll come up with some nonsense assigning blame to everyone but him.

Bottom line, DA has been proven to be a one trick pony...and that pony's name is Steve Nash. He's been a HC of FOUR teams and the three without Nash have been ABYSMAL and he's resigned from his last two, while leaving a host of NBA superstars hating him in the two biggest markets in the game. That's as epic failure as a coach can have.

 

[JustWinBaby]

And if he fails there miserably and quits/is fired for the fourth time, I'm sure you 'll come up with some nonsense assigning blame to everyone but him.

Bottom line, DA has been proven to be a one trick pony...and that pony's name is Steve Nash. He's been a HC of FOUR teams and the three without Nash have been ABYSMAL and he's resigned from his last two, while leaving a host of NBA superstars hating him in the two biggest markets in the game. That's as epic failure as a coach can have.

Typical nonsense

How many championships did Phil Jackson win without Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant as part of his team?

What was Phil Jackson's record against MDA in the playoffs?

What other coach had a better record than him with Raymond Felton as their point guard, prior to trading him and half the roster for Melo?

Why did the Suns and Wizards dump Kendall Marshall?

Since when have Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol been considered basketball guru's? Why wasn't the great Paul Gasol more successful in Memphis?

Magic Johnson is at the top of my list of ass clowns in the NBA. What was his record as head coach? He needs to keep his yap shut. He makes a fool of himself on a regular basis. However he was a great player.

Barkley got it right in his comments last night.

"Mike is a good Coach"

 

[Cheesebeef]

Typical nonsense

How many championships did Phil Jackson win without Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant as part of his team?

What was Phil Jackson's record against MDA in the playoffs?

What other coach had a better record than him with Raymond Felton as their point guard, prior to trading him and half the roster for Melo?

Why did the Suns and Wizards dump Kendall Marshall?

Since when have Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol been considered basketball guru's? Why wasn't the great Paul Gasol more successful in Memphis?

Magic Johnson is at the top of my list of ass clowns in the NBA. What was his record as head coach? He needs to keep his yap shut. He makes a fool of himself on a regular basis. However he was a great player.

Barkley got it right in his comments last night.

"Mike is a good Coach"

So...Magic, a guy who knows EVERYTHING about winning championships is an ass clown, but Barkely, who knows nothing about what it takes to win a title and is a well acknowledged ass-clown is right? That makes sense.

 

[HooverDam]

I'll never understand the classless, angry hate from Suns fans towards Mike D'Antoni. He gave this franchise some of the best years it ever had. Every night the D'Antoni Suns played, it was an event, a party. It hadn't felt that way since Barkley was in town.

The obsession with titles is so annoying. Sure he didn't win the whole thing, but wasn't the journey fun? I don't understand going through one's sports viewing life with so much anger towards a person you've likely never met.

I thank Mike for what he did with the Suns and wish him well in future endeavors.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'll never understand the classless, angry hate from Suns fans towards Mike D'Antoni. He gave this franchise some of the best years it ever had. Every night the D'Antoni Suns played, it was an event, a party. It hadn't felt that way since Barkley was in town.

The obsession with titles is so annoying. Sure he didn't win the whole thing, but wasn't the journey fun? I don't understand going through one's sports viewing life with so much anger towards a person you've likely never met.

I thank Mike for what he did with the Suns and wish him well in future endeavors.

Where's the hate? I just think he was a terrible coach. Paul Westphaul reincarnated. If people hated him, would they be castigating Magic for being a jerk with his tweet?

 

[Cheesewater]

Compared to Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley is Bertrand Russell.

 

[HooverDam]

Where's the hate? I just think he was a terrible coach. Paul Westphaul reincarnated. If people hated him, would they be castigating Magic for being a jerk with his tweet?

Bringing up one's complaints about him ad nauseam comes across as hateful, or at the very least, exhausting. It's like NCSU fans who still obsess over Herb Sendek, I just don't get it.

It didn't work out, thank him for his time, remember the good times, lets move on.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Bringing up one's complaints about him ad nauseam comes across as hateful, or at the very least, exhausting. It's like NCSU fans who still obsess over Herb Sendek, I just don't get it.

It didn't work out, thank him for his time, remember the good times, lets move on.

That's fine if you feel that way, but a lot of people don't. And you opened a thread willingly that you had to know would disuss what people think of him as a coach. And then you call people classless and tell them what to think? Seems the only person in tht scenario who's exhausting you is yourself.

 

[Phrazbit]

Pau Gasol was pretty damn good in Memphis. He was able to drag a wretched roster to the playoffs three times in a ridiculously good western conference (they were a 50 win 8 seed one of those years). Those rosters relied heavily upon dudes like Chucky Atkins, James Posey, Eddie Jones rotted carcass and Lorenzen Wright.

As for Mike D, he is what he is. And he should every day be thankful that he happened to be the guy in the seat when the Suns assembled an insane amount. If not for having come across Steve Nash in his prime then the only people who would remember Mike D'Antoni would be the fans of Benetton Treviso.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

There is some irony that the we have been to the West Conference finals under two coaches in the last 20 years and both coaches were denigrated in this thread.

Thanks for the good memories Mike D, both as a good Suns coach and then the Lakers being awful

 

[Cheesebeef]

There is some irony that the we have been to the West Conference finals under two coaches in the last 20 years and both coaches were denigrated in this thread.

yeah, the interesting thing is that neither of those guys ever had success anywhere else. And you forget there was a 3rd coach who took us to the WCF in Gentry...again, another HC who hasn't had success anywhere else. What that tells me is that those teams had a TON of talent on them (especially The 92-95 and 2004-7 teams), but not much in the coaching box.

Thanks for the good memories Mike D, both as a good Suns coach and then the Lakers being awful

i second the second sentiment!

 

[chickenhead]

MacLeod: 2 conference finals and one NBA finals
Fitzsimmons: 2 conference finals
Westphal: 1 NBA finals
D'Antoni: 2 conference finals
Gentry: 1 conference finals

Here's who they lost to, with champions in bold (depressing):

MacLeod:
'78 Bucks, '79 Sonics, '80 Lakers, '81 Kings, '82 Lakers, '83 Nuggets, '84 Lakers

Fitzsimmons:
'89 Lakers, '90 Trailblazers, '91 Jazz, '92 Trailblazers, '96 Spurs (took over for PW)

Westphal:
'93 Bulls, '94 Rockets, '95 Rockets

D'Antoni:
'05 Spurs, '06 Mavericks, '07 Spurs, '08 Spurs

Gentry:
'10 Lakers

I'm not necessarily sold on Westphal and D'Antoni's lack of success elsewhere as a huge factor for my evaluation. I'm hard pressed to think of that many coaches who've had success with multiple franchises without elite talent around them like Phil Jackson and Pat Riley have had, for example.

Doc Rivers looks like he's on his way. Lenny Wilkens, Larry Brown, Don Nelson, and Rick Adelman. Who am I missing?

After Seattle, George Karl took Milwaukee and Denver to the conference finals once each, but lost in the first round the rest of the time.

Of course, it seems credible that single-team coaches like Gregg Popovich (obviously) and Jerry Sloan would have been able to have success elsewhere with their systems in place.

But unfavorable comparisons to many of the above don't make Westphal and D'Antoni terrible in my book. I just wish they were in the list of coaches with a championship, or better yet two like Rudy T. Ouch those Rockets losses still sting...

 

[KloD]

Magic Johnson is at the top of my list of ass clowns in the NBA. What was his record as head coach? He needs to keep his yap shut. He makes a fool of himself on a regular basis. However he was a great player.

I'll second that. Biggest media ***** ever. I hate the sight of him and hate it even more when he opens his mouth. I would rather be strapped to a chair and forced to listen to Bill Walton reading The Iliad from cover to cover than to have to listen to 10 min. of Magic's endless attempts to make himself relevent in today's NBA.

 

[Griffin]

What that tells me is that those teams had a TON of talent on them (especially The 92-95 and 2004-7 teams)

Even 2005/06? The Suns starting lineup that year was Nash, Bell, Marion, Diaw and Kurt Thomas. The bench was Barbosa, James Jones and Eddie House. It's pretty remarkable what that lineup managed to accomplish. Of course that had a lot to do with Nash and his ability to make everyone around him look like an all-star.