It might not have been on their wish list, but as a Christmas present this year the Knicks are going to get a chance to play against their old coach.
Mike D’Antoni was hired by the Lakers late Sunday night, and on Dec. 25 the Knicks will head to Los Angeles for an unexpected reunion. It will actually be D’Antoni’s second shot at his former team as they square off on Dec. 13 at The Garden.
It was reported that after the Lakers fired coach Mike Brown on Saturday they began negotiating with 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson, hoping to bring him back for a third stint behind the Lakers’ bench. Then apparently talks broke down between the team and Jackson’s agent, Todd Musberger, leading to the hiring of D’Antoni.
According to ESPN.com, Jackson was prepared to take over the Lakers on Monday morning and was “stunned” when the team called to tell him they had hired D’Antoni. Yet in a statement released by the team, Lakers spokesperson John Black said team owner Jerry Buss, executive vice president Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak were “unanimous that D’Antoni was the best coach for the team at this time.”
“I love PJ [Phil Jackson] but I’m very excited about D’Antoni,” Kobe Bryant told ESPN early Monday. Growing up in Italy, Bryant was a fan of D’Antoni, who was a star guard for Olimpia Milano.
D’Antoni was reported to get a three-year contract worth $12 million, with a team option for a fourth year. He had coached the Knicks 3 ½ seasons, compiling a 121-169 mark with one playoff appearance and no playoff wins. He resigned from the Knicks on March 14 after an 18-24 start and was replaced by assistant coach Mike Woodson.
Woodson helped the Knicks finish the season 18-6, and has them off to a 4-0 start this season as they prepared for Tuesday’s game in Orlando.
Brown was fired as the Lakers’ coach after a 1-4 start, the club’s worst start since 1993, and Bernie Bickerstaff will remain the Lakers’ interim coach until D’Antoni is ready to start in “a week or two,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The 61-year-old D’Antoni just had knee replacement surgery, but is expected back before the first matchup with the Knicks.
D’Antoni’s most success came during his five seasons as coach of the Suns, when Steve Nash was his point guard. Nash won two MVP awards while running D’Antoni’s signature up-tempo offense for the coach’s final four seasons, when they won at least 54 games each season and reached two Western Conference finals. Jeremy Lin has success in that position under D’Antoni for the Knicks last season, as well, before signing this summer as a free agent with the Rockets.
This offseason, the Lakers traded for Nash and Dwight Howard, setting up a season of enormous expectations for Brown — but the Lakers struggled to learn his Princeton-influenced offense while playing mediocre defense.
After the Lakers stumbled to a 1-4 start after Howard and Bryant missed preseason games to preserve their health, Nash incurred a small fracture in his leg during the Lakers’ second regular-season game, keeping him out of the lineup for their past five games and for at least another week.
The Lakers reached a deal with D’Antoni several hours after they beat Sacramento 103-90 for their second straight win under Bickerstaff, taking them to 3-4.
The Lakers’ next game is Tuesday night against San Antonio. Phoenix visits Staples Center on Friday.