OFFICIAL: Mike D'Antoni will be the next coach of the Lakers.

[E.H. Munro]

Dunleavy!!!!! Please, god, make it happen!

[Luke]

You shut your mouth.

[MojoPin]

Originally Posted by XxIrvingxX

I still don't get how the hell they even made it to the playoffs at one point. I mean, my god, Kobe Bryant is amazing but he's not Lebron, he can't make everyone else around him that much better. I don't really remember much about that team because I didn't watch them all that often, but did Kobe really do THAT much of the work?

Kobe pretty much did all of the work. Odom was the only other option and he was nowhere near his Sixth Man of the Year form. He was still space cadet at that time. The term space cadet reminds me that Vladimir Radmanovich was also on those teams.

You probably didn't hear about Kobe much at that time, as the media were still hating him and constantly deriding him.

[Ron]

Per Twitter:

Chris Broussard ‏@Chris_Broussard

Mike Dunleavy & Jim Buss met 2day for about 90 minutes, source says. Went well. Dunleavy will be strongly considered if Phil doesn't do it

[Basel]

Phil better do this. We cannot have Mike Dunleavy as our coach.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by E.H. Munro

Dunleavy!!!!! Please, god, make it happen!

I don't have a problem with Dunleavy at all.

With Phil demanding this and that (anyway, that's been reported), Dunleavy may very well be coaching this team by week's end.

[Jamel Irief]

Originally Posted by Ron

I don't have a problem with Dunleavy at all.

With Phil demanding this and that (anyway, that's been reported), Dunleavy may very well be coaching this team by week's end.

You'll have a problem with Dunleavy in a couple of months thats for sure.

Whats with all the ex-Laker coaches rumored to come back?

[Hyperion]

If there is one coach out there who can win with a shallow team filled with aged players, it's D'Antoni.

[Seanzie]

I think D'Antoni would be a great fit for this Lakers team. The roster is set up almost perfectly for his system.

I just don't know why Phil would come back if his back is killing him and he wouldn't even want to travel for road games. It doesn't make much sense for either party.

[Ron]

Per Twitter:

Marc J. Spears ‏@SpearsNBAYahoo

Source close to Phil Jackson told Y! Sports he's leaning toward taking Lakers coaching job. Possible first game Fri vs Phx after 2 practices.

[Ender]

@Mike_Bresnahan: Source: Mike D'Antoni will be the next coach of the Lakers. Not Phil Jackson.

@ArashMarkazi
Phil wanted crazy money, personnel control and didn't want to travel to many road games. It was never going to work.

Steve Nash: "Everyone knows how much I love Mike. If he were the coach it would be seamless and terrific for me and for the team as well."

‏@ramonashelburne
Sources indicate the Lakers and D'Antoni consummated the deal very quickly late Sunday night

D'Antoni had knee surgery at beginning of Nov. He's still a few days away from being able to travel but is further along than people thk

...

[Jace]

The Lakers have their new coach and it's not Phil Jackson.

According to the L.A. Times, the Lakers will name Mike D'Antoni their new coach. D'Antoni reportedly signed a four-year deal with the team.

With all signs pointing towards a Jackson return, reportedly the 11-time NBA champion coach was just asking for too much. Jackson's health issues have been well documented and according to numerous reports, Jackson was hoping to arrange a special travel schedule to accomodate him.

According to the report, Jackson was "asking for the moon."

By that account, it sounds like it's not Jackson who turned the Lakers down, but the Lakers who turned Jackson down. Which is a very interesting twist.

So the Lakers turned to their next choice, D'Antoni, who has a good relationship with Steve Nash and is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the game. With the Lakers working to fit in new pieces,
D'Antoni is likely seen as a coach that can maximize the offensive talents the team has on the floor.

D'Antoni, 61, reportedly interviewed with the team on Saturday by phone. The only other apparent serious candidate other than Jackson was said to be Mike Dunleavy.

There is some complication as D'Antoni is recovering from knee replacement surgery and isn't expected to be on his feet until December.

How does D'Antoni fit? Here's what Zach Harper of CBSSports.com wrote:

The Lakers weren't a bad offensive team to start the season, so it's easy to say D'Antoni isn't going to fix that. You also need more than a couple of practices to get D'Antoni's system implemented, although Nash's presence can certainly help direct traffic and explain where guys need to be. It might not take as long as it would with an unfamiliar point guard.
Aside from D'Antoni being a very good coach, I'm for the Lakers pursuing him because it would give them an identity their star players can embody. An identity has been missing so far this season. Not sure how many other available coaches can instill that right away.

What the Lakers tried to do under former coach Mike Brown was install an offense based around off-ball movement and cutting, when the strength of the team was seen in the pick-and-roll game. Something of course that's a strength of D'Antoni's system.

D'Antoni also has a solid relationship with Kobe Bryant, having coached him on Team USA the past six years. He most recently coached the New York Knicks but resigned in March last season over reported issues with star forward Carmelo Anthony.

Prior to New York, D'Antoni coached the Phoenix Suns, famously building the "Seven Seconds Or Less" offense that was one of the most prolific in NBA history, taking the Suns to Western Conference finals appearances in 2005 and 2006. His career record in 10 seasons (Nuggets, Suns and Knicks) is 388-339.

The Lakers fired Mike Brown on Friday, just five games into the season after the team started 1-4. Under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff, the team has gone 2-0.

link

Should be fun. Nash and Dwight pick-and-rolls will be killer, and Ron and Kobe can knock down a lot of 3's on the periphery, a la Q and Johnson from '05. I think D'Antoni prefers perimeter fours a little more, so we'll see how Pau fits in.

Defensive, though...

[Ender]

The Lakers' defense will be good as Dwight can make it and that was going to be the case no matter who the coach was going to be, hope the Lakers can pull a Josh Smith for Gasol trade.

[Jace]

No, Phil, you sit down.

Can't wait to hear quotes from Phil on how he didn't actually want the gig and how badly they'll fail.

[36 Karat]

Yeah, Phil talking of not hitting certain road games comes across a bit pretentious. D'Antoni for two, three years then Brian Shaw.