The Los Angeles Lakers' search for a new coach ended Monday when the team announced that they selected former New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni to replace Mike Brown on the sidelines for Los Angeles.
The move stunned many around the league, as sources and rumors heavily speculated that former Lakers coach and 11-time world champion Phil Jackson was ready to take his place with the team once again.
A league source told ESPN D'Antoni has a three-year deal worth $12 million and that the fourth year is a club option. The deal was reportedly signed around 11:30 p.m. PT Sunday night, a source close to the situation told ESPN. However, D'Antoni's debut as coach might be pushed back a few weeks as he is currently recovering from knee replacement surgery, the New York Times reported Monday morning.
According to the LA Times, Jackson was the "overwhelming favorite to return to the Lakers" until management heard his informal demands, including a stake in team ownership, according to a person familiar with the situation.
ESPN reported that sources told them that Lakers management also were concerned about whether Jackson's legendary ball movement-heavy "triangle offense" would work in Los Angeles, after a similar pass-centered strategy, the Princeton Offense, failed under Brown, who the Lakers fired Friday after a 1-4 season start.
"Obviously, I think everyone knows how much I love Mike," said Steve Nash, who played four seasons and won two MVP awards under D'Antoni in Phoenix, told the Los Angeles Times earlier Sunday. "If he were the coach, it would be seamless and terrific for me, and I think the team as well."
Already, one of the most important Lakers, franchise star Kobe Bryant, has given his endorsement of D'Antoni's hiring.
"I love PJ but I'm very excited about D'Antoni," Bryant told ESPN early Monday. Both Bryant and D'Antoni worked together this past summer as part of Team USA's basketball team in the London at the summer Olympic Games.
The decision reportedly left Jackson "stunned," a source told ESPN, because Jackson was under the belief that "it was his job to turn down," although Lakers management did not make Jackson a formal offer.
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," Lakers spokesperson John Black told ESPN.
Breaking down the hiring, D'Antoni's famous "seven seconds or less" fast-break offense is sure to fire up fans and give the players an offensive jolt. It was that style of play that led D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns team with Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire to two back-to-back Western Conference Finals in 2005 and 2006. A former NBA Coach of the Year in 2004-05, D'Antoni also boasts a career 388-339 win-loss for a .533 winning percentage.
However, D'Antoni has also been heavily criticized in the past for his lack of attention to defense, particularly in his last stint with the Knicks. That and his inability to co-exist with Knicks star Carmelo Anthony are speculated to be what led to D'Antoni's abrupt midseason departure in March.
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