So we close the door on the Mike D’Antoni era in Los Angeles. OK, we slam the door. At least that is what we would do if we were Lakers fans, whose hopes were astronomically high at the start of the D’Antoni era, and whose egos and now black and blue after the worst season in franchise history. The Lakers had nine non-sellouts, set a team record for losses (55), dropped a game against the Clippers by 48 points, and became second-class
Mike D’Antoni has coached his last game with the Los Angeles Lakers. With so much assurance from the front office throughout the year, most expected the coach to return next season. However, there were certain conditions he hoped Mitch Kupchak would agree to, and those conditions weren’t met. ESPN has details: The Lakers and D’Antoni have been discussing his future with the team since the season ended, multiple sources told ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne. Last week he asked them to pick up the
All along, Mitch Kupchak had said the Los Angeles Lakers would bring back Mike D’Antoni for next season. Since then, there had been some reports suggesting that D’Antoni would want certain conditions fulfilled in order for him to return. Apparently, those conditions weren’t met. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN LA abruptly reported on Wednesday that the coach has made the decision to resign from his position: [Read more…]
CLIPPERS OWNER DONALD STERLING DOESN’T WANT HIS GIRLFRIEND BRINGING BLACK PEOPLE TO HIS GAMES Okay then. Here’s the original TMZ story, where you can listen to the full audio (it’s about nine and a half minutes long). Sterling certainly doesn’t come across well. Here’s an excerpt: TMZ Sports has obtained audio of Sterling making the racist declaration during a heated argument on April 9th with V. Stiviano … after she posted a photo on Instagram posing with Magic. Sterling rails on Stiviano — who
The NBA playoffs got off to a good start today, with a competitive Nets-Raptors game followed by a thrilling Clippers-Warriors battle. The former reminded everyone why Paul Pierce is still a quality NBA player, and the latter was an intense battle between two rivals, albeit both playing below their potential. Blake Griffin only got 19 minutes due to foul trouble, which the Clippers have to be praying won’t happen in the rest of the series. Otherwise, they could be in
Phil Jackson won’t be awful as president of the New York Knicks. He certainly won’t be as bad as Isiah Thomas was in running the club. And he will almost certainly be better than David Kahn, Bryan Colangelo, Joe Dumars, Otis Smith and Geoff Petrie have been in recent years. But Phil Jackson isn’t Isiah Thomas, or David Kahn, or Bryan Colangelo. He’s Phil Jackson, with a reputation of all things basketball that he touches turning to gold. And that’s exactly what
It’s the time of year when everything is coming into focus. The big powers in the West are jockeying for the inside track to get to face the Heat in the Finals, and everyone else is trying to align their stars to attract the big free agent prize. This year, it’s Carmelo Anthony, and the Knicks desperately want to keep him, but the Lakers also want to team him with Kobe Bryant, and don’t rule out the Bulls, with a
I’m kinda high on what the Charlotte Bobcats did with Ben Gordon. The Bobcats waived Gordon on Sunday, preventing him from appearing in the postseason should he sign with another team. While they may have alienated his agent – not a trifle thing in the business world of the NBA – two things should be pointed out. 1. When teams waive or buy out players at this time of the season, they are essentially establishing a price they are willing to pay