Best Choice or Not, Lakers Stay Relevant with D’Antoni

Mike D’Antoni accepted the Lakers job this week, replacing the fired Mike Brown. While he is coming off of knee surgery, D’Antoni will take “at least a few days to acclimate himself,” according to this Yahoo! report.

What happened with Phil Jackson and how should Lakers fans feel about it?

Phil didn’t just want money. He wanted control over personnel. He and Jim Buss do not get along and reports of him wanting to humiliate Buss have been published. As a Lakers fan, I have mixed feelings about the whole volatile situation. If all the Lakers wanted was the best option to actually compete for and win a title, then the choice was Jackson — travel restrictions or not. If it happened, the Lakers calling Jackson up at midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning to tell him they were going with Mike D was at-best weird and at-worst was completely indicative of a poor decision-making process that could take the Lakers into the abyss.

Bill Plaschke’s feelings were not mixed. An excerpt from his take below.

Short of a larger ownership slice than the 4.5% that Magic Johnson was once allowed to buy, Jackson was worth every bit of the Lakers’ time, money and pride. That Jimmy Buss suddenly turned to a quirky offensive mind with a losing playoff record and smoldering New York Knicks wreckage on his resume makes it seem as though Buss was angrily running from Jackson.

In a world where I was omnipotent, I would put Phil Jackson in the role of Pat Riley and make Jim Buss let him have total basketball control. I think Jackson would be fantastic in that role for the next 3-5 years at-least. I would rather have Jackson as a coach and future GM or President over Jim Buss’ helter-skelter decision-making any day. It was Buss who had a big say in the Mike Brown hiring and is already eating his words. My perception is that Jim Buss doesn’t work well with Mitch Kupchak and that, given to much latitude by his father, he could turn into an early-80’s version of George Steinbrenner — making crazy management choices based on keeping the team relevant that end up being to the detriment of everyone. Unfortunately, I’m not omnipotent.

Mike D’Antoni will have pressure to win this year in Los Angeles. By [1] Matt Hickey (Flickr: PA224170_1) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

All that being said, I don’t think Laker fans can be disappointed in the D’Antoni signing.

My name’s Mike D’ and I gets respect…

Mike D’Antoni is a clear upgrade from Mike Brown. That’s easy. Especially with a roster that includes Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard, D’Antoni’s system will see the Lakers scoring a lot of points. He’s also not as bad a defensive coach as you think.

T.J. Simers from the LA Times published a few things today at LATimes.com after an interview with the basketball’s Mike D. You should read all three. Mike D’Antoni is a man who is many things. He’s a former player. He’s a native of West Virginia. He played in Italy after the NBA and stayed there, coaching off and on until 2002, when he was hired as a Suns assistant. He’s a guy from West Virginia who loves a spread-out offense and a point guard with handles. He has the cockiness of someone who knows he’s smarter than his counterparts with the passion of a competitor who still has plenty to prove. This is what makes me excited about having him as the coach of the Lakers.

After making the wrong choice with Mike Brown, Lakers management made a risky one in hiring D’Antoni. Phil Jackson would have been the best and safest move. Instead, Jim Buss once again chose the risky option. Hiring Jackson might have been a championship decision, but it surely would not have ended in chaos. The D’Antoni decision could be either brilliant or, given the Lakers’ horrible start, end really badly.

Second’s the Best

While Phil would have been around for probably a year or two at-most, D’Antoni could (with success) be around for five-plus years. Mike D is not the first choice of fans, and probably not even the best choice, but if the Lakers have even one more championship three years from now, D’Antoni’s hiring will surely be looked at as everything Mike Brown’s was not — namely a success.

Whether Jim gave Phil a fair shot or not, the Lakers got what I think was the second best coach on the market. D’Antoni will bring success and teams will not like playing the Lakers come April or May and his brand of offense will keep the Lakers relevant whether they win or not. And, in Los Angeles, that’s what is most important.