The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Mike D’Antoni as their new head coach. This move comes as a surprise to many, who were expecting former Laker coach Phil Jackson to return to his former position. There is a bit of a mystery as to the timing of the decision, and the choice of D’Antoni over Jackson. Apparently, Jackson’s agent was on his way to Los Angeles to negotiate terms of the contract, when he received the call that they had already hired D’Antoni. Jackson was coach of the Lakers for their last 5 championships. He claims that he was told by general manager Mitch Kupchak that he had until Monday to decide whether he would accept the job as Laker’s coach. However, he received the call around midnight on Sunday, informing him that the Lakers had already hired D’Antoni as their new coach, and signed him to a 3 year deal, which is reportedly valued at a total of $12 million.
Former Lakers coach Mike Brown was fired last week, after a 1-4 start to the season. Not only was this a quick hook, considering the Lakers had acquired new players Dwight Howard and Steve Nash during the offseason, and would of course need time to get used to playing with their new teammates. Nash was injured last week, and is expected to return soon, and the Lakers were heading home for 6 straight games. It seemed as if they wanted to get rid of Mike Brown before he even had a chance to right the ship.
Once I heard Phil Jackson’s name mentioned for the job, I thought he would return for sure. It’s tailor made for him. He has only accepted jobs where there was virtually no chance of failure. He took over the Chicago Bulls, when Michael Jordan was young, and on the verge of breaking through. The Bulls had just lost the Eastern Conference Finals, for the second year in a row, to the eventual back-to-back champion Detroit Pistons, who were getting old. In the next 8 years, the Bulls won 6 championships, losing only in the 2 years that Michael Jordan was trying to be a baseball player. The next job Jackson took, was with the Lakers, coaching Shaquille O’Neal and a young and emerging star, Kobe Bryant. Although the 2 players weren’t exactly buddies, they did win 3 championships together. After O’Neal moved on to the Miami Heat, and won a championship there, the Lakers brought in new players, including Pau Gasol, and won 2 more championships. Those last 2 years were probably Jackson’s best coaching job, because it wasn’t almost a lock that they could win it all then.
Since the Lakers had added Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to a second round playoff team from last year, I figured it was another can’t miss situation for Jackson. I don’t know exactly why the Lakers chose D’Antoni, but Jackson was stunned. There are rumors about salary request and travel restrictions from Jackson, but nothing has been confirmed at this time. I know Jackson has won more championships than any coach ever, with 11, but he never took over a bad team, and built them into a winner. He took over playoff teams with emerging stars, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant, and rode them to the titles, using the triangle offense created by assistant Tex Winter. If he really wants to coach again, why doesn’t Jackson take over a bad team and lead them to his 12th championship? Accomplishing that feat, would put to rest any questions of his abilities as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time.
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