While most people expect Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni to be fired after the season, D'Antoni reportedly has some in the front office who want him back. Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, though, both reportedly want D'Antoni out.
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak wouldn't discuss D'Antoni's fate, aside from saying he and Jim Buss would take their time making the decision. Because D'Antoni's two seasons in Los Angeles have been marred by injuries, there's some in the front office who believe he should return for the final year of his contract.
"D'Antoni still has his supporters in the Lakers organization, and quite frankly, he himself has to decide if he wants to return for another season with the limitations he has had since coming to L.A. last November," ESPN's Ramona Shelburne wrote on Sunday.
It's seemingly an open secret that Bryant doesn't want D'Antoni to return, and an ESPN report by Nick Borges on Monday indicated Gasol feels the same. Borges's report also indicated whether Gasol re-signs with the Lakers, who are interested in bringing the 7-footer back next season, depends on if D'Antoni is still the coach.
Both Bryant and Gasol haven't meshed with D'Antoni, whose offensive system hasn't been a fit for the two veterans' style of play. D'Antoni's system was also thought to be one of the reasons Dwight Howard bolted for the Houston Rockets last summer.
Kupchak is reportedly OK with D'Antoni departing, but he doesn't want to fire the coach -- he wants the split to be mutual.
"One league source said there is sentiment within the Lakers' executive offices for a 'peaceful, mutual parting' with D'Antoni, who has one season left on his contract at $4 million," Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News wrote on Saturday. "... Although he's supported D'Antoni during what has been a disastrous season, Kupchak is said to be on board with the idea that the Lakers can't keep playing the same way under the coach, with no regard for defense and an offense that doesn't properly utilize Gasol."
