With the Los Angeles Lakers season looking as somewhat of a disappointment thus far, many fans believe it may be the fault of coach Mike D'Antoni's offense and him not utilizing his players correctly. Since the firing of former coach Mike Brown, D'Antoni has been under since the minute he started, first being he's not Phil Jackson.
Now the Lakers are 20-26 and fans have plenty of reasons to blame D'Antoni, especially given his inability to play both Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard together. Though many have been against him this season, there's been one constant support member in D'Antoni's corner, All-Star Kobe Bryant.
Bryant recently sat down and talked with T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times and discussed numerous topics and, of course, D'Antoni came up. Simers asked Kobe about D'Antoni's fit with the team and if he's capable enough to take the team to the promised land. Here are Kobe's responses:
"Is D'Antoni the right coach?"
There's a long pause. "I don't think a coach becomes the right coach until he wins a championship. I don't think Erik Spoelstra was the right coach in Miami until he won. Phil Jackson was just some hippie coaching in Chicago with this weird offense."
"Can D'Antoni win a championship?"
"The question for me, is he capable of figuring this puzzle out? I think he has the brains to do so."
Though the Lakers have been disappointing thus far this season, D'Antoni has shown signs that he's able to figure out that puzzle Bryant discussed. The Lakers have gone on a five-game winning streak early on and then a three-game winning streak before stumbling to the Phoenix Suns.
Bryant has gone on a limb in his support for D'Antoni and for his sake they better see some change soon.
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