Mike D’Antoni accepts that he’ll probably never be loved in Los Angeles the way Phil Jackson is. As part of that acceptance, the L.A. Lakers coach insists he’s weaned himself off sports talk radio, comments sections at the end of online stories, and letters to the editors.
"Hell, no," D'Antoni recently told the L.A. Times when asked if he still partakes in any of those old habits. He later added of Jackson: “I think anybody that comes in here the next 10, 15 years, it’s going to be that way. I don’t think there is any doubt that he was so good and so large and he’s still sitting out there.”
Yet, D’Antoni insists he’s thick-skinned enough to survive it all. “Had that bothered me, I shouldn’t have taken the job because you know it’s going to be there,” he told the newspaper. “It doesn’t really affect what we do day-to-day and how we approach the game.”
Under Jackson, the Lakers won five NBA titles. Entering their second season under D’Antoni, fans will be happy with an improvement on last season’s seventh-seed Western Conference finish and first round playoff flameout.
It won’t come easily. Kobe Bryant is still recovering from offseason Achilles surgery and point guard Steve Nash will turn 40 during the season. And then, there’s the matter of Dwight Howard, and his nightly averages of 17 points and 12 rebounds now being in Houston.
"Look at what happened to coaches this year,” he told The Times. “Eleven get let go. And three or four of them had the best years the franchise has ever had. So who am I to say they're treating me bad? What about all those other guys?"
The Lakers added speed and athleticism in signing Nick Young, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson. To help replace Howard, they signed journeyman center Chris Kaman. The moves give D’Antoni hope.
"We've definitely improved our shooting and I think the chemistry will be better just because the uncertainty has gone away," he added. "A lot of people will know their roles better and what's going on. Dealing with free agency day to day, we won't have those problems."
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