Not yet, anyway. As much as folks in the City of Angels might prefer to see Phil Jackson back in his high chair for a third go-round for the Purple and Gold, the front office has already decided to give D'Antoni a shot to show what he can do with a full offseason and training camp under his belt.
And (as much as it hurts to say this) rightfully so.
Rip on D'Antoni all you want—for taking so long to realize that Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol can play together, failing to rein in Kobe Bryant, not being the Zen Master, etc.—but "Pringles" did plenty to earn his keep in LA.
He led the Lakers to a 28-12 record over their final 40 games and the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs, despite a ridiculous rash of injuries and without the benefit of a preseason to implement his system and work out a consistent playing rotation.
Simply put, the guy adapted on the fly and may well have had a playoff win or two to show for his efforts if not for the fact that the Lakers had to devote so many of their backcourt resources to their third-string guards during their first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs.
Oh, and the Lakers owe him approximately $9 million over the next three years, on top of whatever portion of Mike Brown's old deal goes unpaid by the Cleveland Cavaliers and the massive luxury tax bill that's likely to land on LA for 2013-14...so there's that.
Now that all the pipe dream business is out of the way and D'Antoni's job is secure (at least through the first bit of 2013-14), there's the not-so-small detail of finalizing his coaching staff.
According to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, D'Antoni has already parted ways with Bernie Bickerstaff and Chuck Person. Bickerstaff, who was Mike Brown's mentor once upon a time, led the Lakers to a 4-1 ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
