When news broke on Friday that the Los Angeles Lakers had fired Mike Brown just 5 games into the season, the majority of NBA writers and just fans in general said the same thing: “Hello, Mike D’Antoni.” But stating the obvious is only fun if you write for NPR, so a bunch of us felt like speculating. For example, I said that Indiana Pacers associate head coach Brian Shaw would be the top candidate because he was the hot name for four coaching vacancies in the offseason, but that made little sense because C) nobody hired him then, and 6) the Pacers aren’t just going to let an important part of the coaching staff walk to another team with the season underway.
But then the PJ bomb was dropped, and we spent the weekend just waiting for the announcement that Phil Jackson was returning to coaching. Obviously, it made sense, because the Lakers have a stacked roster and Jackson loves to conveniently coach stacked rosters. It was eventually reported that Jackson allegedly wanted specific things like a 2-year deal, Scottie Pippen on his coaching staff and travel exemptions, which is ridiculous, because no coach deserves to be able to miss games when he feels like it.
Thankfully, we don’t have to bother debating that, because Jackson is out of the picture and the Lakers have hired D’Antoni. Of course, some people aren’t happy about that choice. Namely Jackson.
When the Lakers called to tell Jackson that they had instead chosen Mike D’Antoni to be their next head coach, he was “stunned,” according to the source, because he had been under the impression “it was his job to turn down” although no formal offer had ever been made. (Via ESPN)
Oh, and as for the aforementioned details, Jackson was all like, “Whaaaaaaaaat? Ain’t me.”
Jackson and the Lakers had never spoken about a salary, the source said, “but he knew coaches don’t make what he used to make anymore.” He also never intended to miss any more road games than he had in his previous stints with the Lakers.
“Phil would come back only to win and skipping games doesn’t lead to winning,” the source said.
I’m not going to pretend to know what happened between Jackson, his agent and the Lakers like other people will, but I’m willing to bet that when a horny ex comes calling the best lay she’s ever had, bro’s gonna want to up the take a little. I’d be willing to bet that P-Jax was like, “Okay baby, I’ll give you some sugar, but how about we call your friend, Lynzee, to join us?” Good for you, Lakers. A girl has to have some standards.
And now, here’s an exclusive look at D’Antoni as the new Lakers coach:
(H/T to @CJZero for the Pringspiration.)