Mike D'Antoni, Deep Down, Regrets His Decision To Coach New York Knicks

In 2008, Suns president of basketball operations Steve Kerr acquired Shaquille O'Neal in an attempt to finally slay the Spurs. It did not happen.

The Spurs eliminated the Suns in five games that year, and rumors surfaced that the Suns were going to dismiss coach Mike D'Antoni.

Kerr denied it, but D'Antoni knew Kerr was not happy with his results. Being the stubborn person D'Antoni is, he decided he wanted to move on.

The Suns were more than right to let D'Antoni leave. How so? They actually let him call the Bulls and the Knicks for a job.

The Bulls wanted him, but not at the price he wanted. The Knicks were more than willing to pay him.

D'Antoni and the Knicks agreed to a four-year, $24 million deal in the summer of 2008.

Looking back, both parties share a buyer's remorse with what has taken place in the last two years.

The Knicks haven't gotten better under D'Antoni, and he's been sniping about the way the media treats him and the roster he has to work with.

The Suns had a rough season last year, but they rebounded this time around by going to the Western Conference Finals on Sunday night. To top that, the Suns finally eliminated the Spurs by sweeping them in four games.

This exposes D'Antoni as an overrated coach. It's easy to say he was good because he had Steve Nash.

Steve Nash makes a coach's job easy.

The Suns should be grateful that D'Antoni isn't there anymore. They were never going to go far with his offensive-first mentality and lack of regard for defense.

For him though, it was a mistake that he left. The Suns were never going to fire him despite everything to the contrary. He was a popular coach that players enjoyed playing for.

If he calmed down for several days, he would have been rational and realized the Suns were the best choice for him.

That's not D'Antoni's way. He has an ego. He likes to talk about his offensive style winning championships.

D'Antoni is stubborn to think a coach can make a difference to a team. All coaches feel that way.

The reality is players make the coaches better.

For all the criticism Phil Jackson gets for coaching great players, he should be lauded for recognizing that a coach can only do so much.

Too many coaches lose sight of that after they experience success.

D'Antoni is learning the hard way. He has not had a good roster to work with, and he lets everyone know it. He should have thought about that when he made the decision.

Instead, he was intent to get out of the Valley of the Sun—and look how that paid off for him.

Who knows if D'Antoni can do well in New York. He was hired to be a babysitter while the Knicks cleared up their salary cap mess. Donnie Walsh has done of good job of creating room to sign two superstars in LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

There's a good chance James will be leaving Cleveland if the Celtics eliminate the Cavaliers tonight and there's an even better chance that the Celtics can actually accomplish this feat with the game being at Boston.

If James is serious about playing for the Knicks, he will likely demand that D'Antoni not be the coach. He will never win with D'Antoni's basketball philosophy. Lebron pointed that out several times already.

What James wants, he gets—and with that, D'Antoni should be worrying about his job security.

The Knicks will not hesitate to pay D'Antoni to sit at home. The Knicks coach knows that.

If he stayed at Phoenix, none of this would have happened. He might have won a championship if only he would have hired a defensive-minded coach to help him with his deficiencies.

Whether it's this year or next year, he will likely be a head coach somewhere else if the Knicks fire him. It's hard to believe he will be staying in New York for the next four years.

D'Antoni's free pass expired after this season was over. He knows he has to win anywhere from 36 to 41 games next year if he returns.

It's hard to think that's going to happen without James and Bosh. Even if those two sign with the Knicks, odds are it will be under a different coach.

That coach will likely be John Calipari.

Phil Jackson could be an option, but he already has a championship-made roster in Los Angeles. He's not going to the Knicks.

It did not have to be this way for D'Antoni.

If only someone let him know he was being stupid.

Now, D'Antoni knows.