Mike D’Antoni’s Inevitable Firing Will Conclude Tenure Doomed from the Start

Mike D'Antoni never had a chance. There were All-Stars, living legends and the breathtaking city of Los Angeles, sure. But from the moment D'Antoni was handed the keys to the Los Angeles Lakers' kingdom, it's been predestined that the man almost solely responsible for his hiring would be sending him packing.

Based on recent reports, that meeting is about to take place sooner than you think. ESPN's Dave McMenamin appeared on SportsCenter on Tuesday and said the Lakers were "leaning" toward firing D'Antoni. 

Let's just kill the suspense now. The Lakers, barring some major change of heart, will fire D'Antoni and likely not too long after next Wednesday's season-ending bloodbath (I'm assuming) against the Spurs.

It's understandably inevitable at this point.



Tuesday's 145-130 loss to the Houston Rockets set a Lakers single-season loss record at 53. Only the Utah Jazz—a team that gave up on its season last July—have a worse record among Western Conference teams. 

"I've said it before, and it's because, (expletive), it seems like I'm always in it," D'Antoni told Sam Amick of USA Today, "but it's like Winston Churchill said, 'If you're in hell, just keep your head down and keep on going.'"

Even in a season such as this, where many expected the Lakers to go through a transition, hell seems like a friendly alternative. Especially with the co-tenant Clippers looking like championship contenders. Someone's head was bound to roll. And the announcement that general manager Mitch Kupchak had signed a multiyear extension all but sealed D'Antoni's fate as the designated fall guy.

As if there were any other choice. 

To understand why the D'Antoni era was dead on arrival, you have to go back to the circumstances surrounding his hiring. It's frankly one of the most confounding management decisions in recent memory.

...

About the Author