Mike D'Antoni

Mike D'Antoni (born May 8, 1951 in Mullens, West Virginia) is an American basketball coach and former basketball player. He holds American and Italian dual citizenship. D'Antoni is currently the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association.

Player career

After a college career at Marshall University, D'Antoni was drafted by the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the 2nd round of the 1973 NBA Draft. He was all-NBA Rookie Second Team choice for 1974. After 3 seasons for the Kings (1973-1976), he played for the Spirits of St. Louis of the American Basketball Association in 1976, and for the San Antonio Spurs (again in the NBA) in 1977. His Spurs career lasted just two games before he found an opportunity to play successfully overseas.

D'Antoni was then called by the Italian team of Olimpia Milano, starting a great European career which saw him become the club's all-time leading scorer. He was voted the league’s top point guard of all time in 1990 and he paced his team to five Italian League titles, two Euroleague titles, two Cups of Italy, one Korac Cup and one Intercontinental Cup. Being of Italian origin, D'Antoni was also selected to play on the Italy national basketball team for the European Cup in 1989.

D'Antoni's nickname in Europe was Arsène Lupin for his ability in stealing balls from other players.

Kobe Bryant, star player for the Los Angeles Lakers, grew up in Italy during the height of D'Antoni's European career and cites D'Antoni as the player he loved most growing up as a child. During his early career with the Lakers, Bryant chose to wear the numeral 8, D'Antoni's old jersey number with the Olimpia Milano.

Coaching career

D’Antoni began his career as head coach for his most loyal club, Milan: here he remained for four seasons, from 1990 to 1994, leading the club to the 1993 Korac Cup. He was then chosen to coach Pallacanestro Treviso (Benetton), another major Italian basketball club. During his tenure (1994–1997), the team captured the Cup of Europe and Coppa Italia (in 1995) and won the domestic league title in 1996-97. Coach D’Antoni's Italian teams went to the playoffs each season, and he was twice voted the league’s Coach of the Year.

The first NBA coaching job held by D'Antoni was with the Denver Nuggets in 1997-98, as he was the club’s director of player personnel in 1997-98. He also did some broadcasting work with TNT during that season. The next year, he became Nuggets head coach, but was fired after a poor performance during the strike-shortened 1998-99 season. D'Antoni then went on to become a scout for San Antonio Spurs during the 1999-2000 season. He was also an assistant for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2000-01.

In 2001, D'Antoni returned to Italy for a second stint as the coach of Benetton Treviso. In his one season back in Europe, he led the team to a 28-8 record and a league championship, coaching a team filled with many former NBA stars. In 2002, he made his return to the NBA as a Phoenix Suns assistant.

In 2003, D'Antoni was hired midseason (61 games left in the season) as Phoenix head coach and, despite leading the team to a poor record in the second half of the year, he received a vote of confidence for producing inspired play from an injury riddled team. The next season, D'Antoni helped the team to acquire Steve Nash, which began an incredible turnaround for the franchise. Since then, D'Antoni has coached the team to four consecutive 50+ win seasons.

D'Antoni was selected to the coaching staff for the Team USA Olympic Basketball squad under head coach Mike Krzyzewski and participated in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, winning a bronze medal.. Pundits believe his familiarity with the three-point shot and the zone defense, hallmarks of the international game, will be valuable assets to the team.

D'Antoni has dual citizenship in the United States and Italy: this made him the first Italian ever to lead an NBA team. He is fluent in both English and Italian.

As of May 5, 2008, D'Antoni has been told he is free to speak with other teams about a coaching job next season, although Steve Kerr has requested he stay with the Suns. There is speculation that D'Antoni will wind up as head coach of the Chicago Bulls. On May 9, D'Antoni was made an offer by the New York Knicks. The next day, D'Antoni accepted the offer and became the Knicks' next head coach.

Coaching Record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		G	W	L	PCT	Finish	Result
DEN	1998-99	50	14	36	.280	6th in Midwest	Missed Playoffs
PHX	2003-04	61	21	40	.344	6th in Pacific	Missed Playoffs
PHX	2004-05	82	62	20	.756	1st in Pacific	Lost in Conf. Finals
PHX	2005-06	82	54	28	.659	1st in Pacific	Lost in Conf. Finals
PHX	2006-07	82	61	21	.744	1st in Pacific	Lost in Second Round
PHX	2007-08	82	55	27	.671	2nd in Pacific	Lost in First Round
	Career	439	267	172	.608

External links

• Career basketpedya.com