SAN ANTONIO — Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald, who rarely speaks to the media, made an exception when it came to his friend, Mike D’Antoni, the Lakers’ new coach.
When asked about the Lakers hiring, Grunwald beamed.
“Everybody’s a winner,’’ he told The Post.
D’Antoni, who is expected to be introduced Thursday, and Grunwald had an excellent relationship, After Knicks president Donnie Walsh turned down a contract extension, Grunwald did everything he could to get D’Antoni players to fit in his system.
When D’Antoni resigned on March 14, feeling he couldn’t coach Carmelo Anthony any more, Grunwald was shocked and tried to talk him out of it.
Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd also said they were glad D’Antoni’s coaching again.
“I’m happy for him,’’ Chandler said. “None of us can predict the future, but I know they are getting a good guy. Coach D’Antoni was great for myself. He helped bring me here.
“A lot of guys around the locker room have great respect for him and care about him personally. It wasn’t a situation for him here. Sometimes personnel dictates that. But we all know what he’s accomplished in this league.’’
Kidd ran D’Antoni’s up-tempo offense on the gold-medal-winning Redeem Team in 2008.
“I think [D’Antoni’s] got a veteran group,’’ Kidd said of the Lakers. “They’ll pick up the offense pretty quick. I think they’ll do well. It will be a lot of fun to watch and probably hard to guard. It will be interesting.’’
On the other hand, Magic Johnson Wednesday night blasted Lakers executive vice president Jerry Buss for hiring D’Antoni.
“[Buss has] made two critical mistakes already,’’ Johnson told ESPN. “First, hiring Mike Brown — he wasn’t the right coach. He’s a great coach but not the right coach for the Lakers. And I don’t feel Mike D’Antoni is the right coach for the Lakers. Especially when you have Phil Jackson sitting out there, who wanted to be the Laker coach.’’