Mike D’Antoni leaving Brooklyn Nets coaching staff after one season under Steve Nash

When the Brooklyn Nets employed Steve Nash as their head coach final offseason with none full-time teaching expertise, they made certain to furnish his workers with as many skilled coaches as potential. Their most notable rent was a coach that Nash knew nicely: Mike D’Antoni. The 2 of them led the Seven Seconds or Much less period in Phoenix with D’Antoni as the top coach and Nash because the MVP level guard, and collectively once more in Brooklyn, they tried to construct a equally dominant offense round Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and one other former companion of D’Antoni’s, James Harden. 

However after just one season collectively, D’Antoni has determined to depart Brooklyn. Nash thanked his former head coach in a press release launched by the workforce Wednesday. “I want to thank Mike for every part he did for me, in addition to our group, over the previous 12 months,” Nash wrote. “Having Mike subsequent to me was invaluable as I navigated my first season as head coach. I might be ceaselessly grateful for his steerage and can stick with it a lifetime of classes from the numerous years we have spent collectively. Our gamers and workers all benefitted from his time in Brooklyn and we want Mike, Laurel and their household the perfect in what lies forward.”

Coaches like D’Antoni are hardly ever even accessible for assistant positions. His contract with the Houston Rockets had expired after the Orlando bubble and either side agreed to half methods. D’Antoni instantly started interviewing for head teaching positions for different groups, and was seemingly thought-about a severe candidate with the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers. The Pacers went with first-time coach Nate Bjorkgren, although, and the 76ers pivoted after Doc Rivers surprisingly grew to become accessible, so D’Antoni was left with no head teaching place final season. Becoming a member of Nash in Brooklyn was the following most suitable choice, particularly after a short stint as an assistant with the 76ers helped him land the Rockets job a number of years earlier. 

However now, D’Antoni is stepping away, and it is unclear what is going to come subsequent for the longtime NBA head coach. One other assistant job seems unlikely contemplating how interesting his scenario in Brooklyn was. D’Antoni will probably be a candidate for future head teaching positions, however what he’ll do within the interim stays to be seen. For now, the Nets should proceed to reshape their teaching workers after shedding fellow prime assistant Ime Udoka to the Boston Celtics earlier within the offseason and changing him with David Vanterpool.