Los Angeles Lakers: Mitch Kupchak explains hiring of Mike D’Antoni
By Nick Ziegler
Recently, former Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak talked about why the team hired Mike D’Antoni over Phil Jackson.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been a struggling franchise for a few years now. Since the 2012-13 season, the Lakers have been unable to reach the postseason.
That season was, of course, when the Lakers had what many believed would be a super team with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard. However, the Lakers got off to an awful start that season, and after five games, Mike Brown was fired as the head coach.
Due to the Lakers having championship expectations that season, they needed to hire a big-name coach to take over. As a natural fit, Phil Jackson’s name was mentioned. However, despite a lot of talent, Jackson didn’t end up coaching the Lakers.
Recently, Mitch Kupchak talked about reaching out to Jackson to coach that season, but that Jackson wasn’t interested in coaching anymore. Here’s what Kupchak said on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast via Corey Hansford of LakersNation.com.
"“But yes, Phil did not want to coach. Jim and I met with him in his home and it was a struggle to get him to be enthusiastic about coaching. He knew that our team had a chance to be good that year and he knew that we were struggling as an organization […] I felt that if he coached, it’s only because he felt that pressure to do that […] Maybe Jeanie said this is something that you should consider.”"
With Jackson uninterested, the Lakers ended up giving the job to Mike D’Antoni. However, due to injuries and a few other reasons, that Lakers team was never able to live up to expectations. They ended up finishing 7th in the Western Conference and were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs.
Since Kupchak didn’t believe that Jackson wouldn’t coach for more than just that one year with the Lakers if at all, it helps just the hiring of D’Antoni. Since the failure of that team, the Lakers have really fallen on some hard years.
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Now, they do appear to have a coach that they believe they can help guide them back to the postseason in Luke Walton. Also, they have done a nice job in the NBA Draft acquiring young players that can help turn this around and then sustain it.