D'Antoni dismisses Bickerstaff & Person

[Jakay]

Bernie is a loss. He was a solid interim. Still, since it seems that McD is going to be around for next season for sure, he definitely deserves to pick his staff. It's not really fair to blame a head coach who doesn't really have his guys around.

[laduane1]

I thought Mitch would have all the power to make his coaching staff, he is the boss.

[AI]

I thought Mitch would have all the power to make his coaching staff, he is the boss.

Coaching is usually decided by ownership, unless the owner has given full reign to the GM (which Buss Jr. has not).

[crazyeights]

i thought it was classy that d'antoni kept em on for the entire season despite not being his guys and having to carry more coaches than usual.

This. Also love how Bernie gets so much love for that one stretch, whereas MDA essentially does the same thing the last month of the season and people think he's the antichrist.

Bernie didn't play Kobe 48 minutes a game and totally mismanage the minutes

LOL. Bernie took over the team in November.

That is NOVEMBER, the first month of the season. Who in their right mind would play a guy even playoff type minutes in November? Not even Kobe would do that--he knows the season's a marathon.

Also, for all of those thinking MDA "ran Kobe into the ground"...you're so short-sighted, where do I begin?

(For a second let's excuse the fact that every doctor has said that an achilles would not have been caused by overexertion).

MDA didn't play him 48 minutes. Kobe played HIMSELF 48 minutes. This was not MDA's idea. Kobe has stated multiple times that he talked to both Mike and Mitch and he told them the same thing: I'm playing. He also stated in his exit interview how Magic and Michael checked themselves into games. That's what was going on there, it was Kobe who chose that path.

Now you can ask why. Why was Kobe doing this?

Kobe had guaranteed we would make the playoffs. Kobe is and has always been one of the great dramatic performers. I've heard they even used to accuse him of letting teams into high school games so he could play hero ball.

The wheels fell off the bandwagon this season and Kobe took great pride in showing Dwight how to get it done. It's a Kobe Bryant guarantee. It's about stoking his ego. It's about creating a challenge to keep things fresh. It's about 17 years in this game and I'm still killing these kids. That's what this dude is made of. He is made of spite. Proving people dead wrong.

He was playing with fire, everyone knew it, and he got burnt.

Now you can say: it's the coach's job to rein that in.

There's two things that need to be said about that argument:

1. Watch Phil's second stint with the Lakers. He did not control Kobe Bryant. Only Kobe Bryant controlled Kobe Bryant. Phil found a way for them to coexist, so that he was "in collusion" with Kobe. Essentially, PJ let Kobe do what he wanted, but Kobe had to respect Phil openly. Regardless, nobody controlled or managed Kobe.

2. The game prior to Kobe's injury: 47 points, 8 rebs, 5 ast, 4 blks, 3 stls, 52% fgs, 18/18 fts in 48 minutes @ Portland.

It's one of the greatest regular season performances ever. Kobe had been absolutely willing us to win. It was Unbelievable. You mean to tell me, at that point, if you're Mike D'Antoni--with the season on the damn line--that you have the balls to mix up the minutes right now?

This is what Kobe wanted. He had never been stopped in his life. He is a madman. And now he has been proven human.

Before that point his only enemy was exhaustion. Kobe can get over exhaustion. If a guy can make free-throws on one damn leg, he can overcome 48 minutes of playing basketball. Most people will never understand a guy like that. It wasn't MDA's decision to take him out or manage his minutes. At 17 years with the Lakers, with the playoffs on the line, Kobe wasn't gonna trust anyone to get it home.

And thus the greatest strength and weakness of the man is illustrated for us all. What makes Kobe great is his hard-headedness. If he were soft, the guy would miss his first 4 shots of the game and never shoot again. We're talking about a guy that routinely doesn't score in the first quarter, or has two points at the half, then goes for 15 in the 3rd. Or 12 in a row in the 4th. Or 81 points when our team actually needed it to win. He'll play point-guard at 34, defend the best perimeter players in the game, 12 years younger, shut them down, and then find a way to get his points.

Then he'll guarantee we'll make the playoffs, and literally do everything he can to see it through. Like sinking two free-throws on a busted achilles.

Listen to Dwight and others in the post-games leading up to that injury. He spoke of trust. He's telling us that Kobe doesn't trust the crap we're sending off the bench to do their job and get him rest.

No. Kobe had a guarantee to fulfill and he saw it through. That's always been Bean. Ultimate trust in himself. Paper-thin trust in others.

[dockingsched]

what a post

[crazyeights]

what a post

Thanks, Doc. I get that people need someone to blame their disappointment on, but it's silly season right now.

[Edrees]

goodbye to the winningeset coach in lakers history

[Asianiac_24]

How can anyone watching the Golden State game thinks MDA is not at fault? Gary Vitti was on the sidelines screaming for him to take Kobe out, and MDA just stands there doing nothing with his arm crossed.

[Dr Aki]

How can anyone watching the Golden State game thinks MDA is not at fault? Gary Vitti was on the sidelines screaming for him to take Kobe out, and MDA just stands there doing nothing with his arm crossed.

this has been already been proven false.

[Run-MKE 311]

I kind of find this ironic when you consider that Weekend at Bernie's was probably the most stable/successful streak that the Lakers had all season long.

If nothing else, WAB did not come out and talk our of his a** like Dantoni does. I used to like Dantoni so much more before he became the coach of this team.