The Lakers hire Mike D'Antoni as head coach over Phil Jackson

Sorry Lakers fans, looks like your team is still destined to lose.

The Los Angeles Lakers Hire Mike D’Antoni Over Phil Jackson

Mike D’Antoni is not Phil Jackson. That is to say, D’Antoni does not have 12 championship rings, five with the Los Angeles Lakers.

But D’Antoni is the new Lakers coach, and he agreed to a four-year contract to take over Sunday, replacing Mike Brown, who was fired Friday.

The 61-year-old has won 53.4% of his games as an NBA head coach, with the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks. He’s taken five of the seven teams he coached for a full season to the playoffs. He reached the Western Conference finals in 2005 and 2006 with the Suns.

Those Suns teams were defined by D’Antoni’s seven-seconds-or-less offense, reliant on quick decision-making, pick-and-rolls and the ability to drain open jump shots. Those Suns teams were among the most efficient and fastest-paced offenses the NBA has ever seen. They allowed a lot of points, mostly because of their high pace. And they won, taking 70.7% of their games from 2004-05 through 2007-08.

The “Zen Master” had several stipulations that he wanted the Lakers to agree to before he accepted the job.

Via ESPN

When Phil Jackson met with Los Angeles Lakers executive vice president Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak on Saturday, he asked for travel restrictions, a salary in line with what he previously earned with the Lakers and significantly more say over basketball decisions, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

The travel restrictions would limit the number of road games Jackson would have to attend, a source told ESPN.

“Kobe, tell me how my a$$ taste”-Shaquille O’Neal