Phil Jackson says Los Angeles Lakers decision to hire Mike D’Antoni was a “midnight coup” – NBA News
The Los Angeles Lakers continued to make waves and news well into the season when they fired their former Head Coach Mike Brown after only a few games were played in the season. The Lakers went searching for a new Head Coach, and had a talk with legendary former Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson as well. However, before Phil could make a decision about whether he wanted to return to the NBA for a second stint with the Lakers, the team decided to hire Mike D’Antoni as the new Head Coach, which came as a shock not only to the fans but to Jackson as well.
Jackson has already said that there were no terms discussed during his meeting with Lakers owner Jerry Buss and General Manager Mitch Kupchak. However, he was vacationing in Santa Barbara when TMZ caught up with him and asked him how he felt about the whole situation involving the Head Coaching job of the Lakers, and he replied that he thought it was fair of them to do so, but still called their decision a “midnight coup”.
"Phil Jackson says he’s NOT bitter at the Lakers for passing him over for the head coaching job earlier this month, claiming Lakers brass decided to go with Mike D’Antoni in a “midnight coup.” The Zen Master was out in Santa Barbara this weekend when he was asked if he felt the Lakers treated him unfairly. Jackson explained, “We never discussed any terms, so there was never anything unfair about it." Phil also made it clear the chances of him ever coaching in the NBA again are “slim and none,” reported TMZ.
Jackson has already said that he did feel slighted when the Lakers top brass did not wait for his answer and went ahead and hired D’Antoni, even though they had approached him about the job and had asked him to consider it. Some analysts are saying that the Lakers only offered him the job as a PR stunt, and did not think that he would consider. They were, however, caught off guard when he did decide to consider it and then had to do damage control. In the end, the Lakers still got a better coach than Brown, which is what they wanted.
Tags: