Nets assistant Mike D’Antoni is stepping away from his full-time role as a member of Steve Nash‘s staff in Brooklyn, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Wojnarowski’s use of the term “full-time” leaves the door open to the possibility that D’Antoni will still act as a consultant for Brooklyn or another team on a part-time basis. It’s unclear whether or not that’s in the cards, but Woj says that D’Antoni isn’t retiring and is expected to pursue NBA head coaching jobs again in the future.
D’Antoni sought a head coaching position this offseason and was a finalist for the Trail Blazers’ job, which eventually went to Chauncey Billups. A report in early June suggested D’Antoni had also received interest from Boston and Orlando, though there was no indication he was a serious contender for either job.
D’Antoni, whose most recent head coaching gig was with the Rockets up until 2020, has coached five different NBA teams and ranks 21st on the league’s all-time list with 672 regular season wins. However, at age 70, he may be running out of time to get another shot. Only two head coaches in NBA history – including current Spurs coach Gregg Popovich – have remained on the sidelines into their 70s, according to HoopsHype.
Another guy burned by Harden. Mike really wanted to run it back with CP3 and the beard, that team could’ve really won a ring. But Harden didnt want to sacrifice for team success and traded for his buddy Russ. That was the first step that led to rockets being in a tank right now
Liked watching his teams but they didn’t win because he never taught a lick of defense. Especially Phoenix and Houston
Houston got a top 10 defense the year they won 65 games and took GSW to 7. Warriors, the greatest collection of talent ever were scoring below 100 points in several games.
Right! We’re in an era we’re everybody is impatient. Just imagine if KD stayed on the warriors, they would have been one of the best dynasty’s in sports.