After
only the 5th game of the season, Mike
Brown was fired as head coach of the Los Angles Lakers. Losing each pre-season
game and beginning the season with a sad 4-1, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak
announced that they would be making one of the earliest coaching changes in NBA
history. After the Lakers trade for center Dwight Howard and point guard Steve
Nash, everyone had expectations for them to be very tough competition.
It
could be possible that the Lakers themselves had a plan to remove
Brown as head coach, as it is highly unusual for a team with 4 legendary
superstar athletes to not only be 8-0 in the preseason, but to also lose each
opening game. After firing Brown the Lakers began to play with
noticeable improvement, interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff lead the Lakers
to their second straight win Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings 103-90.
But of
course the Lakers cannot continue this season without a head coach. Sunday
night former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks coach, Mike D'Antoni, signed
three-year deal with LA worth $12 million. After large speculation over if Phil
Jackson or Mike D’Antoni would assume the head coach role, Jackson was
reportedly “stunned” when negotiations of rehiring him fell through. Kobe
Byrant admitted to ESPN on Monday, "I love PJ but I'm very excited about
D'Antoni". The Lakers plan to hold a news conference either Tuesday or
Wednesday to answer questions and discuss the teams plans for the rest of the
season with their new coach. Changing coaches this far into the season might be
detrimental for the team, or it might be just the change they needed.
