Mike D’Antoni is the new ad 24th coach of the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Los Angeles Lakers. The 61-year-old coach was controversially appointed as the Lakers’ new coach over fan favorite and 11-time championship winner of the NBA Phil Jackson. He was formally introduced as the new coach of the team at its training facility after a week of Mike Browns sacking.
D’Antoni is known for being an offensive-minded coach, the approach which he adopted during his tenure as the head coach of the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns. D’Antoni makes sure that he will continue this approach with Los Angeles Lakers which is the most storied and celebrated team in the history of the NBA. He revealed that he wanted to return show time basketball in Los Angeles.
The Lakers is the 16-time champion of the NBA have established scaling giddy heights ad lots of their fans will never ever forget the 1979-89 era which is considered as the Showtime era. It is also the time when Hall of Fame inductees Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson spearheaded the Lakers.
D’Antoni said that their goal is to win the NBA Championships this season while he marvels at his talented pool of cagers and All-Star team with top players like Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant. This is indeed one of the prospects of D’Antoni for the Lakers and believes that they are going to win it this year. He is confident that this season’s championships will be their goal and that they will try in order get through.
The appointment of D’Antoni as Lakers’ new head coach is indeed a surprise move, as lots of people expect the return of Hall of Fame inductee Phil Jackson who is already retired. Jackson has met with Executive VP Jim Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak of the Lakers, but instead of opting for Jackson, the Lakers appointed D’Antoni for his offensive-mindedness. D’Antoni has a 12 million dollars three-year deal as the head coach of the Lakers.
There is no doubt that D’Antoni is very happy and excited about his new team. As the head coach of New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets, D’Antoni has a 388-339 win-loss record. He takes over as the team’s head coach who has a 1-4 start in the 2012-13 season of the NBA which has dismayed lots of fans. D’Antoni has lot to do in order to lift the Lakers andregain their Championship form just like the old says.
D’Antoni also expressed that he understands the disgruntled fans of the Lakers who expect Jackson to return as the head coach instead of him. He knows how great a coach Jackson is, and will always remain that way. There is no way either that Phil Jackson will return as the head coach of the Lakers after being treated like this by the management of his former team. Now it is the time for D’Antoni to prove himself to the management and the fans that he could bring back the glory days of the most celebrated team in the history of the NBA.
