Mar 14, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D
UPDATE: Whereas this originally seemed like a story on formality more than anything, don’t rule out anything yet. According to a source of Jeff Borzello, CBS Sports writer, the interest in the coaching vacancy is mutual.
"“I would think his days are numbered based on Kobe saying he had no interest in playing for him next year,” a source told CBSSports.com. “If he isn’t with the Lakers, I believe he will be at Marshall because there is mutual interest.”The source added that Marshall has donors willing to pony up money in an attempt to woo D’Antoni."
There is certainly truth to the sentiment that D’Antoni’s days may be numbered, but it’s hard to believe that he’d leave the high profile job as Lakers head coach for Marshall.
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It’s no secret that the Lakers are having a miserable season, and someone very likely will have to be the scapegoat for it all. Fair or not, Mike D’Antoni seems like the one to take the fall, with rumors growing of uneasiness with D’Antoni going forward. The decision could be taken out of the Lakers hands as the college ranks have come calling to the offense savant.
According to Jeff Goodman and Marc Stein of ESPN, the University of Marshall has called D’Antoni to gauge his interest in taking the head coaching job. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt as this is customary for Marshall to “always sound him out” whenever they have an opening. This is a result of D’Antoni being an alumni of Marshall and a big part of the school’s history.
For now, D’Antoni has a dozen games left to convince the Lakers management he’s worth keeping around, but the damage may have already been done. The historic loss to the Clippers is one of the biggest factors in the weariness of the D’Antoni’s ability. Mix in the fact that the Lakers are teetering on the edge of being the worst team in franchise history and it’s hard to keep a coach around with that under his belt.
With a summer of rebuilding at the helm, the case to release D’Antoni grows. The Lakers will have to decide if D’Antoni is the man they want to head the team setting off into the future, or if it’s time to bring in a new coach. However, Marshall could always make the decision for LA if they do hire D’Antoni this summer.