Report: D'Antoni Regretted Leaving Suns To Take Knicks Job
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Former Knicks' head coach Mike D'Antoni told ESPN Los Angeles he regretted taking over the Knicks after enjoying a successful spell with the Phoenix Suns.
"I shouldn't have gone to New York," D'Antoni told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles.
D'Antoni chose to leave the high-flying Suns teams he took to two Western Conference Finals for a rebuilding job in New York in the summer of 2008.
He admitted that he initiated conversations with Knicks before accepting the job.
"I initiated it and I probably shouldn't have," D'Antoni revealed.
D'Antoni resigned from the Knicks in March 2012 after a 18-24 start to the 2011-12 NBA season. His Knicks teams only made the playoffs once in three full seasons and failed to progress beyond the first round in 2011. He finished 121-167 in his three and a half seasons as Knicks' head coach.
In Phoenix, D'Antoni was the architect of the 'seven seconds of less offense' which produced entertaining basketball, but did not produce an NBA championship.
Now in 2012, D'Antoni is reunited with two-time MVP point guard Steve Nash with the Los Angeles Lakers. D'Antoni is yet to work with Nash since agreeing to become Lakers' head coach earlier this month. Nash is currently recovering from a fractured fibula.
Under D'Antoni, the Lakers are 2-2 and are a 7-8 team overall this season. His hire triggered surprise as Phil Jackson was widely-considered the favorite to land the job after Mike Brown was fired.
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