When we went to bed on Sunday night, we fully expected Phil Jackson to be the new (old) head coach of the Lakers when we woke up. The Lakers were obviously targeting him. He seemed to be receptive to coming back to coach them. And, all indications were that Kobe Bryant and PJ would be reunited once again.
But then, something pretty surprising happened: At the last minute, the Lakers decided to go in another direction instead and hired former Suns and Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni to lead the Lakers this season. It was a shocking move, to say the least. And, as it turns out, we weren't the only ones who were shocked. D'Antoni was just as surprised as we were.
"Sure I did," he told the New York Daily News late yesterday when asked if he thought Jackson was going to get the nod over him. "For sure I did. Didn't everybody? When I got the call that it was me, my first reaction was, 'Are you serious?'"
The Lakers were. And now, D'Antoni, not Jackson, faces the tall task of getting this team to the 2013 NBA Finals. Shocking.
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[via NY Daily News]
