Mike D'Antoni's Path Back to NBA Should Lead Through Golden State Warriors
Mike D'Antoni never came anywhere near the Golden State Warriors last season, but his influence was obvious in every small lineup, quick-trigger three and jailbreak transition attack.
As crazy as it sounds, maybe letting him get closer, perhaps as a lead assistant under head coach Steve Kerr, would be the best way to jolt both the Dubs and D'Antoni's career.
Golden State's top assistant and offensive coordinator, Alvin Gentry, capitalized on the Warriors' success by taking the New Orleans Pelicans head-coaching job—which means the very first step in getting D'Antoni on the Warriors bench is already complete.
There's an opening.
To D'Antoni's eye, there's also now a clear blueprint: Sign on with the Warriors, win tons of games, remind everyone you're really good at your job and then wait for the head-coaching offers to roll in.
Gentry did it, and anyone who's followed the league over the past decade knows he learned a ton from D'Antoni with the Phoenix Suns. The student was a hot commodity after just a year with the Warriors. If things play out the same way in Golden State next season, shouldn't we expect the teacher to be an even hotter one?
Lest there be any doubt about where Gentry got many of the offensive principles he installed in Golden State, consider his comments to Bleacher Report's Howard Beck:
"I would say that this is vindication for Mike D'Antoni, if nothing else. We played like he's been trying to get this league to play forever. And you can win a championship like that. So for all the people that said you can't win a championship being a three-point shooting team, and not really a low-post presence or anything like that, we just did it. So I think it's great for Mike D'Antoni.
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The Right Guy
The Warriors are in a position where wild optimism feels earned. They just reeled off a 67-win season that, for the most part, looked easy. So while it would usually be foolish to assume there are ways to improve this team, D'Antoni is someone with the pedigree to do it.
Stephen Curry won the MVP award last year. Cool, huh?
Steve Nash won two on D'Antoni's watch in Phoenix.
"I think Mike and Steve in many ways set the table for Steph Curry," Kerr told Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk. "And I think Steph would tell you that too."
If D'Antoni could help Curry and the Warriors reach another offensive level next season, it would remind teams around the league that he's not just an influence from the past. He's someone who could still be part of a willing franchise's future.
And if anybody could hone a razor-sharp offense, wouldn't it be D'Antoni, the guy whose principles are already in place in Golden State?
Here's what ESPN.com's J.A. Adande wrote:
"Kerr wanted to blend the Suns' offense with the ability to highlight individual matchups through alignment that he experienced in the triangle offense while playing with the Chicago Bulls and the adaptable, fluid offense he played in San Antonio. Hiring Gentry demonstrated which system he valued the most.
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Reality Check
We're getting ahead of ourselves.
Before D'Antoni parlays a year as a Warriors assistant into his next head-coaching job, he has to, you know, take the Warriors gig.
The good news is that he and Kerr have worked together before—in D'Antoni's final year with the Suns, when Kerr was the general manager.
When Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News asked Kerr if he'd thought about D'Antoni as a replacement for Gentry on the TK Show, here's what Kerr said:
"I have great respect for Mike. He's somebody who we've thought about. I don't know that he would really want that role. I think Mike will be in line for head-coaching positions here before too long, so we'll see. That's a conversation I may have, among many others.
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That's the sticking point: D'Antoni has already been a high-profile head coach. Taking an assistant position would be a step backward, and there's a good chance that Kerr's right about offers coming in eventually. There weren't many openings this offseason, but D'Antoni's name popped up in connection to almost all of them.
Still, the longer D'Antoni is out of the game, the more difficult he may find it to get back in.
Spending a season adding layers to the Warriors offense would help D'Antoni add a fresh entry to his resume. And let's not forget that Golden State's defense was the best in the league last year; picking up a few things from defensive guru Ron Adams could go a long way toward quieting critics who've long claimed D'Antoni was a one-way coach.
It also wouldn't hurt to take a position (any position, really) that would move a rough Los Angeles Lakers stint further down his coaching history. The sooner everyone forgets that, the better for D'Antoni.
The fit makes sense, and D'Antoni, according to Beck, is a fan of the personnel:
"If I was putting an ideal team on the floor...Golden state has everything you kind of look for. A rim-protector, a [power forward] that can make plays and shoot threes. Great playmaking, great shooting everywhere. So they kind of embody everything.
They play the way that the Suns would have liked to have got to, but they were able to do it defensively and offensively.
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We know D'Antoni's interested in getting back on an NBA bench because he met with the Denver Nuggets about their head-coaching vacancy, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. If he were willing to consider that messy situation, it proves he's not in a position to be choosy yet.
Unconventional Opportunity
D'Antoni needs a chance to show everyone he's still a genius, and the Warriors just finished a year that made everyone associated with the organization look pretty darn smart. Golden State's offense is likely to improve on the strength of chemistry and reps alone next year. Remember, Kerr scrapped huge portions of the playbook early on because turnovers became a problem; adding even a few wrinkles could make a serious impact.
In the worst-case scenario, the Warriors make marginal improvements organically, lead the league in offense (after finishing second last season by the slimmest of margins, per NBA.com) and D'Antoni gets the credit.
There's no way for him to fail.
Would it be an unusual path back to a head-coaching role?
Sure.
But isn't that what D'Antoni's entire career has been about—doing things differently?
When everybody slowed down, posted up and isolated on the wing, D'Antoni cranked up the pace, emptied the lane and spread the floor. He's perfectly comfortable with the unconventional.
If he's willing to stay outside the box, he'll find that the best path to another head-coaching position runs through Golden State.
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