Mike D’Antoni will reportedly part ways with the star-studded Houston Rockets after four years of not making it into the NBA Finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers are locked in on the NBA championship. They’ve proved it with two 4-1 series against the Portland Trailblazer and the Houston Rockets. After going down 0-1, the Lakers immediately figure out how to decimate their matchups. Right now, the duo of Lebron James and Anthony Davis is proving to be unstoppable.
It promised to be as such early on, and they are delivering. Unfortunately, the Houston Rockets were at the receiving end of their beating. As a result, Mike D’antoni has called it quits and would like to bring his genius to another team.
Mike D’Antoni announces parting ways with the Rockets
After a four year run with the Houston Rockets, The 69-year-old coach announced that it would leave the Rockets after this season. The reason for his departure wasn’t clarified. However, it seems like D’Antoni felt like he has tried to do what he can do with the team. Now, he feels like he can help or make another team better.
He said that he wants to continue coaching, whether it will be in Rockets or any other team. Based on this statement, he is still not closing the door on a possible return to the team. D’Antoni’s run with the Rockets can be considered as a relative success.
Despite not making it in the Finals in the past four seasons, Mike D’Antoni and the Rockets have a total of 217-102 win-loss record.
Which team can he land on?
There are a number of teams that need their head coaching positions filled up. Topping the list is the Philadelphia 76ers. They fired Brett Brown as their head coach after a clean sweep from the hands of the Boston Celtics. They’ll need a seasoned coach to be able to fix the entire organization completely.
Right now, they have the key pieces to win enough games. Unfortunately, the system relied on by the previous 76ers was too one-dimensional. As a result, the season-ending injury of Ben Simmons completely derailed the NBA Finals’ hopes of the team.
Placing Mike D’Antoni on the head coaching position could be a good reset button for the team. He was able to make the Houston Rockets a contender in the West instantly. Doing it in the East could be an easier job. After all, he already has the pieces to work on. Mike D’Antoni just has to fix the system.
Image from MehariNation Sports Podcast/ YouTube thumbnail