[Sports] Lakers fire Mike Brown after 1-4 start

[Red Menace]

And from out of nowhere, Mike D'Antoni returns to the conversation and takes the job.

The Los Angeles Lakers, in a surprising move, announced Monday morning that they have signed former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni to replace Mike Brown as head coach.

A league source said D'Antoni gets a three-year deal worth $12 million with a club option in the fourth year. D'Antoni's agent Warren LeGarie confirmed the deal late Sunday night, several hours after the Lakers beat Sacramento 103-90 for their second straight win under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

On an interesting side note, the Lakers have gone undefeated since dropping Brown.

D'Antoni had knee surgery at the beginning of November and hasn't yet been cleared to travel, according to sources. "It'll be a couple of days before he comes in, but he's further along than people believe," a source said.

Another source said D'Antoni must receive clearance from his knee specialist to fly and also to limit his medication. He is expected to arrive in L.A. on Wednesday at the earliest and Thursday at the latest. It's doubtful, though possible, he coaches Friday's game, the source said.

Still have my doubts for all the reasons I mentioned before. I think we'll see more wins, but I also think we'll see more injuries for the older players in his fast-paced offense system.

Mike D'Antoni hired as next coach of Los Angeles Lakers - ESPN Los Angeles

[Octovon]

It seems like a bit of a surprise that the Lakers went with D'Antoni given that Phil Jackson was open to coming back, but apparently he wanted a little more say in personnel and such than what Lakers' management was offering.

Originally Posted by Red Menace

On an interesting side note, the Lakers have gone undefeated since dropping Brown.

To be fair, the Lakers played a depleted Sacramento Kings (who were missing DeMarcus Cousins and Thomas Robinson) and a very young Golden State Warriors team. I read some reports/articles that suggested the Lakers fired Brown so early was because they were due to go on a little stretch against some weaker teams (Sacramento, Golden State and Phoenix) that could have made Brown look better and overshadowed the obvious deficiencies in his coaching ability (or something like that).

It's no guarantee the Lakers will play any better, but they're likely to be better off mid-season when all their pieces start to gel together. Even if they can turn it around, I don't think the Lakers are better than OKC or San Antonio and they'll also need to compete with the Mavs (who have looked decent without Dirk), as well as the scrappy Memphis Grizzlies (love watching these guys play).