Phil Jackson Laughed When the Lakers Hired Mike D'Antoni

He found their decision funny.

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Complex Original

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Shortly after the Lakersdecided to hire Mike D'Antoni to coach Kobe Bryant & Co. back in early November, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak was asked to call Phil Jackson to tell him of the team's decision. When he did, he told Jax that the team felt D'Antoni was a better fit for the Lakers. And how did the legendary coach respond to hearing that tidbit of information? Well, by doing what just about everyone else did when they heard that D'Antoni was selected to be the Lakers head coach over Jackson.

"I laughed," he said on ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning earlier today. "It was humorous to me when Mitch said that we think that Mike is a better coach for this group of guys."

It was funny to us, too. There's no way D'Antoni is a better coach than Jackson. And there's no way that anyone on the Lakers should have told Jackson that that was the reason they were going with D'Antoni instead of him. We're just glad Jackson had a sense of humor about the whole thing. We're also glad that, when the season was over and done with, he was the one getting the last laugh.

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[via ESPN Los Angeles]

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