Mike D’Antoni Says Firing of Mike Brown Was Not Fair


Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni had nice things to say about the guy he replaced on the bench, and admitted that he thinks the firing of Mike Brown after just five games was unfair. Per 790 The Ticket in Miami (via SRI): “After you got the Lakers job did you reach out to Mike Brown? Did you talk to him? D’antoni: ‘You know, not really, ’cause he’s probably down. We will talk later. He’s a great guy, great coach, and will get another job, and I think everybody has gone through exactly what he has gone through. That’s part of our business and, you know, sometimes you get in a situation where you have no control over it and it just happens and people get hurt, but you gotta and he will. He’ll be a confident coach. He should be, and he’ll resurface and that’s what we do. We just keep plugging away and hope all the horizontal and vertical lines come together and you get a in position where it all clicks. You’re lucky to get in that position. A lot of coaches don’t, but you keep trying to get there.’ Was it fair what the Lakers did to Mike Brown? D’Antoni: ‘No. No. It’s never fair. But it’s our business and our business is not fair. That’s the basis of it and that’s the way it goes. I think when you sign on the dotted line, and they pay you a lot of money to do that, it’s part of the business. A lot of it isn’t fair and it’s not a reflection on who you are as a head coach and who you are as a person, but that’s part of the game and otherwise don’t get into coaching ’cause that’s the way it is.'”