Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Roma SPQR, often referred to as BC Roma, is aggressively shaping its infrastructure ahead of its debut campaign across the BKT EuroCup and Italy’s LBA UnipolSai, securing major front-office additions with extensive NBA experience. According to a recent report from Italian outlet La Prealpina, management has finalized an agreement with former NBA executive Bryan Colangelo, while also moving toward legendary strategist Mike D’Antoni to join the capital city organization’s Board of Directors. Confirming rumors, the former Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, and Philadelphia 76ers general manager would step into a key advisory role for the ownership group. In this capacity, he is slated to represent the franchise directly at official meetings. The 61-year-old executive currently holds a minority stake in Italian football club Cagliari alongside his longtime associate Edoardo Bulgheroni and carries a decorated pedigree.
ClutchPoints: Introducing the Hall of Fame class of 2026: -Amar’e Stoudamire -Mike D’antoni -Doc Rivers -Mark Few -Joey Crawford -Candace Parker -Elena Delle Donne -Chamique Holdsclaw LEGENDS 🙏🏽 (via @NBA)
Oh No He Didn't: Mike D'Antoni on coaching James Harden: "I remember when I went and told him he was going to run the offense as the point guard I'm sure he was channeling his inner Bob McAdoo and thought coach just give me the effing ball. He's one of the most skilled players I've ever coached, and I appreciate the trust he gave me. Thank you, James"
Who were some of the influential factors in your life to tell you to be yourself? You were an untraditional coach. Mike D'Antoni: Well, you know, besides being from a family that does that, and my brother who was coaching with me that had a similar philosophy, the main two guys were Jerry Colangelo and Bryan Colangelo. They put the team together, and then we’re talking about how to play and whatever, and I’m saying, you know, my gut says we should do this, but the traditional way is that. And they say, “go with your gut, do what you think’s best”. And so that’s when I decided to move Amar’e Stoudemire to the five and Shawn Marion to the four. It comes from years and years of playing, years and years of coaching, and past experiences from when I was a player, and what would feel good, and then as a coach and how it went with my team at Olympia Milano when I really started that.
Do you see any budding Mike D’Antoni-style coaches in the NBA? Mike D'Antoni: They’ll do it better. Coaches keep getting better, and I don’t follow that close. I obviously follow guys like Kenny Atkinson, who was with me in New York. But everybody has their style and their demeanor, and it works all kinds of different ways. There’s not one way to play, and you got to do what’s best for your personnel, and that could be all kinds of different venues. And when that happens, you’re a good coach. Whether it’s my style or somebody else’s style, it doesn’t matter.
Advertisement
It’s well documented how bad the Suns wanted you. How did that help you buy into the Seven Seconds or Less offense? Amar'e Stoudemire: I spoke to Coach Mike D’Antoni today, and he was like, “Amar’e, when I first mentioned the new offense to you, you really didn’t care. Like you wasn’t upset about the change that we’re making playing you at center.” And so, I was ready to go, man. I think you know, for us, I always looked at my coaches as leaders, as leadership, and so whatever they feel is the best for the team, but I was always willing to sacrifice or make that happen. So when Coach D’Antoni mentioned we’re going to play this style of basketball, I was like, all right, cool, let’s go. I can adapt to any type of basketball game or play, and so I was ready from the start.
The Spurs took the next two games to capture the series in six games. San Antonio won the NBA Finals in 2005 and 2007. Mike D'Antoni: "It just seemed like, gosh, we can't get out of our own way. Things happening and it just wasn't in the cards. I think we could have even been more appreciated if we'd have been able to win a title. And San Antonio is great. I'm not taking anything from them. I would’ve liked to have met them full boat. Doesn’t mean we would’ve beaten them or not, but I’ve would’ve liked to have competed with them.”
On falling short of NBA title in Phoenix with ‘Seven Seconds or Less’ Mike D'Antoni: “I just I think that we could have easily, you know, my first year there as a head coach (in 2004-05) or the third year (2006-07), won a championship. We had a really good chance, even the second year (2005-06) without Amar’e (Stoudemire), to get into the finals. I don't know if we would’ve won or not.”
Mike D'Antoni: “And then Raja Bell got hurt (left calf in 2006 conference finals). What really ticks me off is that, and I don't know if we would’ve won or not, and I don’t know if we get to the finals or not, nobody knows, but the first year we tried, Joe Johnson breaks his orbital bone in his face (against the Mavs in the 2005 conference semifinals). And then the next year, Raja Bell gets hurt during the Dallas series. So, he's hobbled and hardly played or didn't play or wasn’t up to his usual self in the Western Conference Finals. And then the third year, we had the suspension.”
On the summer leading up to historic 2004-05 season Mike D'Antoni: “It was actually the first time (as an NBA head coach) because even the year that I spent in Denver, it was a strike year (in 1998-99). We didn't start playing until January. So I didn't have a training camp, and I was brand new, actually, in the NBA after spending 20 years before in Italy. Really just kind of got thrown into the water.”
Advertisement
The high-octane offense that he brought with him from Italy and that surged through the Phoenix Suns franchise in the early 2000s inspired Jack McCallum's classic sports book ":07 Seconds or Less." The phrase, which was D'Antoni's directive to those Suns teams to attempt a field goal in the first ticks of the 24-second shot clock before the defense could settle in, became synonymous with the skilled, floor-spaced game that replaced the post-up battles of the 1980s and isolation-heavy possessions of the 1990s. And the phrase became the two-time Italian League championship-winning coach's calling card when he came back to the NBA nearly 30 years after his playing career was limited to just two games with the San Antonio Spurs. "That's the reason why I'm getting in the Hall of Fame," D'Antoni told ESPN.
D'Antoni's 2005-06 Phoenix Suns ranked second in the league in offensive efficiency, scoring 111.5 points per 100 possessions. Twenty years later, that offensive rating would have been 26th. The entire league is playing the way his Suns did two decades ago. "I'm proud of that and proud of the team we had and the run we had there," D'Antoni said. "I'm not stupid enough to think it was just that [team that sparked today's teams]. There's so many other factors. Every year the players got better. They shoot the 3 better. "Probably the biggest regret that I have coaching is that -- because we were first to go through the door, first of all, you take a lot of bullets. And ... it makes you hesitate. We didn't go as far as we could have pushed the envelope back then because we didn't know. We'd shoot 30-something 3s and we're going, 'Is that too many? Can we do that?' While other people were saying, 'You can't win that way.' And so instead of going, just revving it up like they do today and going after it ... we just didn't quite maximize what we could have done."
ESPN: You were 21-40 in your first season as interim head coach in Phoenix. Second year, 62-20. Was it as simple as adding Steve Nash? Mike D'Antoni: I think that was the missing piece. We were young the year before. And also, I took over halfway through the year ... didn't really have a lot of time. [But] we were missing a point guard. And so when you plug into maybe the best point guard --- not maybe, but the best point guard in the league -- and you got Amar'e [Stoudemire] and you got Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson, and we added Quentin Richardson later, it was just a combination of those guys and Steve together that made that big jump. It surprised us. We didn't think we'd do all that. We were just trying to make the playoffs.
I remember when you were with the Lakers. We were in Detroit and the Pistons were hovering around .500 and we were at a shootaround and you made an offhanded remark like, "This is the type of the game that Steve just wouldn't let us lose." You've coached a lot of great players, but what was it about Nash and you that worked so well? Mike D'Antoni: Well, Steve was going to be good no matter what team he was on. I do think that the way we played and the talent surrounding him made him an MVP, but he was a great player no matter what. One of the reasons why I took the Laker job -- the biggest reason, other than I wanted to coach -- was that Steve was going to be there. So I'm thinking that if Steve and I can get this and put this together, we could be really good. And I remember asking them before I signed, "I know Steve's hurt, when's he coming back?" And they go, "Well, he'll be back by Friday. And if we can get you to sign and you get in here, he'll be almost ready to go right when you get here." That kind of pushed me over the hill. Well, Steve never really came back. And even when he did come back, he was about half himself. And so it was doomed from the start.