Wednesday, March 14th, 2012 at 2:18 pm  |  126 responses

Mike D’Antoni Resigns as New York Knicks Coach


Well, wow. Amidst a new wave of Melodrama, Yahoo!‘s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has resigned. Crazy. Here’s more: “Mike D’Antoni has resigned as coach of the New York Knicks, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. D’Antoni and Knicks owner James Dolan agreed on Wednesday to end his three-plus-years run as Knicks coach, a source said. “It was a mutual decision to no longer coach the Knicks … conflicting visions of the club’s future,” the source said. … Assistant Mike Woodson, who formerly coached the Atlanta Hawks, will take over as the interim coach.”

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  • http://www.slamonline.com TADOne

    I actually feel bad for Mike Woodson.

  • Edwards

    They really need to get rid of Melo he is a real cancer to the team. With him they can not win because he is not a team player. Poor move

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Well, since Woodson loves isos, Melo should thrive.
    He also loves pick and rolls, so Amare should be ok. Lin will have to learn how to run a traditional offense now, and we’ll see what his game looks like now that he’s off the juice. He could be fine.

  • Edwards

    Melo is a “Celebrity Athlete” he plays for the next endorsement and appearance. What a waste of salary. Melo has not been able to do much for the team in respects to basketball. He is a fluxe

  • bnets

    The Nets are taking over New York!

  • Fat Lever

    Somewhere, in Soviet Russia, Prokorov is deviously grinning, rubbing his chin, muttering “It’s all coming together”.

  • http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-talk/2011 Diesel

    With all these superstar divas gaining power, there won’t be any coaches left in the NBA.

  • http://idunkonthem.blogspot.com albie1kenobi

    even better info: carmelo is due $60+ million the next 3 years, amare is due another $60 million the next 3 years, and chandler is due $45 the next 3 years.
    best front court EVER.

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    It was the right thing to do. Good luck to Mike D’Antoni and his family in the future. Thank you for teaching me what SSOL means. Good luck in Toronto. Your wife will love the Toronto Eaton Centre. Call RuPaul for more Toronto 411.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    I fully expect Baron Davis to be starting by end of season now. D’Antoni getting fired is going to cost Lin millions of dollars.

  • DJ MBENGA

    People criticizing his overall record as head coach should stop and take a look at the rosters he had the first two seasons. No offense Chris Duhon, but you’re not what someone would call a good starting PG in the NBA.

  • http://www.slamonline.com UNFROZEN CAVEMAN LAWYER

    PRINGLES SUCK ANYWAYS

  • dan

    lol @FatLever: you know that there is no soviet russia for more than 20 years now? ;)

    and a big YEAH! :D at the headline. as a die hard knicks fan since the early 90s i can only cheer at dantoni stepping down. i liked him as a phoenix coach but new york should allways be about defense and passion. mike has never been a ny fit. i wish him all the best for his future but i am also happy that he is gone now. i really hope that some D saves us our season from now on. but i am afraid that this change of culture wont happen over night…

  • http://gifsoup.com/view/2419491/fat-kid-crash.html LakeShow

    Co-Sign nbk. Unfortunately. I liked watching Lin when he was ballin. The ballin has stopped though.

  • Rik Smits Mullet

    the melo drama continues. Looks like a ductaped big three doesnt guarantee a championship. Also bad luck for lin he flourished in the d’antoni system.
    Hope everybody quits voting for melo in the allstar game next year.
    Best thing that happened to the knicks was melo getting injured.

  • Fat Lever

    @dan, I know, it was a reference to Family Guy.

  • Otis

    @nbk – yep. Baron starting, and the Knicks losing. Of course, it won’t be Melo’s fault, though.

  • Fat Lever

    I would love it if Melo got booed in the Garden at the next home game. He might backpedal all the way through the tunnel to the locker room if that happened. Shout out to my alma mater Temple University and Mardy Collins.

  • BoWeezy24

    … Lin Goes Back To The Couch…..

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    Next up, package Lin and Mar’e for D-Howard. Crazy. :)

  • The Truth

    All this to please Melo? Bench him or trade him, put JR as a starter!

  • Fat Lever

    Dwight is playing it smart. He’ll go to NJ with D-Will, Lopez, Humph(provided he signs), one of the best shooters in A Morrow, and best of all, a lottery pick in a deep draft. Things are looking up for BKLYN. Can Jay do any wrong?

  • http://www.twitter.com DFrance21

    While this recent skid should not have been grounds for his firing, D’Antoni’s days in NY were numbered. The players didn’t fit his style and he’s unwilling to adjust it. It’s easier to fire the coach than to trade a proven diva like Melo.

  • RunNGun

    This is very sad news. Even if the new coach gets here, Melo will still be an issue. Book it.

  • http://hoopshirts.com hoop shirts

    there is always drama with the Knicks. can they ever just have a season without all the ups and downs?! it’ll be interesting to see what happens with them though from here on out. maybe this will spark the team and they’ll bounce back?!

  • bull22

    someone will want jeremy lin, i had my doubts about him in the beginning but he will be fine. any guy that can outscore kobe bryant and then have a 28 pt 14 assist game against the mavs will have many takers. needs to be on a team that will allow him to run team and continue to develop.

  • McWill

    Any of yal who think Melo is overrated are just prisoners of the moment… Melo doesn’t fit D’Antoni’s system, just look at the Suns in the mid 2000s, they did not have a one on one scorer, just a Steve Nash to set EVERYBODY up… But I don’t put all the blame of the Knick’s struggles on D’Antoni tho…. Amare Stoudemire is playing like a bum nowadays, settles for TOO many jumpshots and his ability to finish around the rim is diminishing…imo (even though it won’t happen) the Knicks need something similar to Phil Jackson’s triangle, gives Melo the freedom to post on the block or the elbow, allows the shooters to get their shots up, and takes pressure off of the pgs (Lin/BDiddy)…Woodson’s system is too much one on one thats why they didn’t win anything in Atlanta, but that should make Melo happy…

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Chris Duhon.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Melo will be happy now. The other 14 guys. Won’t.

  • David

    impeach dolan

  • BoWeezy24

    Woodson and Melo Had Something Planned? Hmmm… Naw idk I’m Just Sayin’

  • Mike Mihalow

    At least the Knicks were good for a fraction of last season.

  • http://www.adultism.com justlenny

    Lin….. prepare your anus

  • http://theillustrationboard.tumblr.com/ Stepfan

    Knicks should holla at Jerry Sloan next season.

  • anonymous

    Now that D`Antoni is gone, the only problem the knicks have is: 3 starters(melo, stat & lin) who need to dominate the ball in order to be effective; 3 starters(melo, stat & lin) who are defensive liabilities at their respective positions; 3 starters(melo, stat & lin) who do not mesh well together; 1 coach(woodson) who underachieved with less talent(atlanta) at his last job; 1 front office who has no idea what there doing; 1 team in excess of guards; 1 starting PG who cannot not turn the ball over 5 times per game; 1 offense that does not fit the makeup of the team; 1 team who does not grasp the concept of defense; and 1 one city(NY) whose expectations are/were through the roof.

  • ClydeSays

    D’Antoni showed breifly what he could do when the ball moved as designed. He EARNED Lin a multi-million dollar, multi-year contract with someone. Not sure Woodson or any coach can salvage this new mess.

  • dazzy

    Good start, but now get rid of Melo and bring Dwight to NY.

  • Moj

    What about all of these reports recently that the players simply weren’t buying in to D’Antoni’s system? Don’t be so quick to lay the blame on Melo’cancerous play. Just saying.

  • http://nyill.wordpress.com/ O

    Dwight just said he’s not opting out, so no trade is happening there. This Dwight drama will happen ALL over next year… Also read that D’Antoni asked Dolan to trade Melo for Deron Williams. After Dolan said no they agreed that D’Antoni would be better off leaving the team.

  • Bash

    Once again the Knicks are a horrible defesive team with some very talented players who need to dominate the rock. Maybe one day they will spend Dolan’s money well and construct a TEAM that plays to a system that suits the various skill sets of the squad. It isn’t gettng any easier being a knicks fan…(sigh)

  • anonymous

    @O I just read the same thing about dantoni.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Dwight didn’t say that. It’s confusion and bad reporting.

  • robb

    about time

  • http://www.nba.com VanCityBBall

    i bet he’s thinking “well, at least i didnt get fired!”

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Sources say he told a member of the staff he’s opt in. But the players meeting is where the news that he’d opt in originally came from. And he never said that in that meeting. He said he was “all-in” for THIS season. They have to get it in writing that he won’t opt out, from him and his agent.

  • LA Huey

    What a dysfunctional franchise. Does anyone else think the best fit for Lin is to be surrounded with shooters and athletes that can’t create a shot for themselves?

  • LA Huey

    So how much is D’Antoni regretting taking the Knicks job just before we found out the Bulls would be able to draft Rose? Bulls fans, I’m sure, are happy they only had to suffer two years with VDN before getting Thibs.

  • ripslam

    At least a defensive-minded coach is taking over. I like Woodson, never understood why he was fired in Atlanta.

  • http://www.slamonline.com TADOne

    Wait so D’Antoni wanted to replace Lin with Deron Williams after what Lin did to keep him around as long as the Knicks did?! Anyone find that knife?!

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    because Woodson can’t coach offense and switches every pick and roll on defense.

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