Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni has an uncertain future with the team.(Photo: Jesse Johnson, USA TODAY Sports)
SHARE 51 CONNECT EMAILMOREEL SEGUNDO, Calif. Of course Mike D'Antoni heard the John Calipari rumor.
Everyone in the greater basketball nation heard about Rex Chapman's tweet-heard-round-the-world, that social media message sent Monday in which the former University of Kentucky star said he was told that the wildly successful Kentucky coach would be coaching the Los Angeles Lakers soon.
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But after the current Lakers coach dismissed the report, telling reporters "it's not a big deal," D'Antoni spoke with USA TODAY Sports about his future that is certainly uncertain.
"Well, I think after the year is over, we'll sit down with management and see where they're going, see where they're headed, and it's up for them to decide," D'Antoni said. "It's not for me to decide."
D'Antoni has one guaranteed year left on his contract worth approximately $4 million, but the question going forward is whether he still wants to be here and if the Lakers still want him. The team (25-52) is on the verge of setting a new record for futility in the Los Angeles era that began in 1960, as a loss to none other than Dwight Howard's Houston Rockets on Tuesday would guarantee the Lakers wind up worse than the 1974-75 team that finished 30-52.
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D'Antoni's reputation as one of the most innovative coaches in the game has been unfairly tarnished, battered by the nonstop drama and health woes that began with his hiring at the start of last season and have gotten so much worse ever since. He wasn't Phil Jackson then, nor is he now, and that remains as big a problem as any with this fit in Phil-Town.
No final decision has been made on either side no matter how many times this storied franchise's insatiable fan base has called for his head. But as D'Antoni made clear, he's at peace with whichever direction this situation goes.
"Hey look, this is a great place," D'Antoni said. "Any player who has a destination of L.A. it's pretty good. I've been lucky to be here. I don't want to say, 'Oh yeah (I'll be back),' but I don't know. And I'm sure that everybody is going to have to sit down and figure it out.
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"I think the franchise will have a way that they want to get to the best, to the top, and you go with it. And if I'm included in that, great. That's how it goes."
The Calipari chatter was a script flip from what took place in late March, when it was reported that D'Antoni's alma mater, Marshall, had inquired with them about its coaching vacancy. Now, like then, he continued to downplay the notion that he's headed "home" as some sort of exit strategy.
"I love Marshall, and I've been so close to them for a long time especially with the new (athletic director) and the new president, and people there," he said. "It's a great thing. But my heart is here, and my head is here. This is what I know, so I don't want to get distracted with that. I never have been. It always comes up when they're looking, but they're looking and I'm fine.
"I just think it's still a week too early (to know about his Lakers future). They've got to make some decisions. And again, we'll all huddle up at the end of the year."
SHARE 51 CONNECT EMAILMORESource: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2014/04/08/mike-dantoni-los-angeles-lakers-coach-nba-john-calipari/7475517/
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