Reunited, and It Feels So Good
Why Mike D’Antoni teaming with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash on the Lakers should have the rest of the NBA running scared.
Why Mike D’Antoni teaming with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash on the Lakers should have the rest of the NBA running scared.
Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty
When Kobe Bryant was growing up in Italy, his favorite player was a high-scoring point guard who played for over a decade in the Italian League after five years in the NBA. That point guard was Mike D’Antoni.
When Steve Nash was carving up the NBA in the mid-aughts on his way to two-straight MVP awards, he did so under the leadership of a coach who led the Phoenix Suns’ fast-paced offense to four consecutive 50-win seasons. That coach was Mike D’Antoni.
No doubt the prospect of the Lakers bringing back Phil Jackson and his 11 rings terrified the rest of the league. He is, after all, arguably the best coach in NBA history. But LA could hardly have done better than D’Antoni, who his team’s alpha dog loves (“I love D’Antoni and what he brings.”), and Nash, the team’s floor general, loves even more (“Obviously I think everyone knows how much I love Mike”).
With Nash and all-world center Dwight Howard running D’Antoni’s patented pick-and-roll, spreading the floor for Kobe, while Pau keeps things moving from the high post — well, lets just say this could a very scary team. As if a team with four All Stars in the starting five isn’t scary enough.
More sports please.
Show me some sexy sports fans.
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