The Lakers may regret hiring Mike D’Antoni, but they don’t plan on firing him.
According to an Orange County Register report, D’Antoni is safe despite the team losing 10 of their past 12 games as they fall further out of the Western Conference playoff race. Reporter Kevin Ding tweeted, “Lots of speculation, but I am told today the Lakers are not considering a buyout or firing of Mike D’Antoni as head coach.”
D’Antoni, who resigned as Knicks coach last season, has struggled to establish his run-and-gun system even though he has been reunited with Steve Nash and has stars Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol at his disposal. The Lakers problems have also become very public.
The 17-25 Lakers signed D’Antoni to a four-year deal after firing Mike Brown four games into the season. If the Lakers fired D’Antoni, who they hired over Phil Jackson, they would be forced to pay three coaches and that could be part of the reason they would be hesitant to let go of D’Antoni.