The spat between Mike D'Antoni and Phoenix's current management has flared back up. In this morning's New York Post, D'Antoni told Peter Vescey that owner Robert Sarver and GM Steve Kerr tried to force in a defensive assistant coach after the first-round blow-up against the Spurs and basically tinkered too much for his taste. D'Antoni also asserts that in his first meeting with Shawn Marion, Kerr told the forward he wasn't worth a max contract.Via BSotS, Sarver jumped on Phoenix sports radio today to answer the charges. Here's his basic assessment of what led to D'Antoni's departure.
"At the end of the day, I think that while Mike didn't really want to be the GM, he also didn't want a boss. Mike's a pretty stubborn guy and probably felt that a little bit of the suggestions were maybe undermining him, even though that wasn't our intent. [...] Steve walked on eggshells all year and basically didn't tell Mike to do anything."There's better gossip in there, though: Sarver said D'Antoni agreed before the 2007-08 season that he'd consider adding a defensive coordinator to the bench once Marc Iavaroni left for Memphis. Kerr brought then-free agent Tom Thibodeau to town. (Thibodeau was a long-time Jeff Van Gundy assistant and had been interviewed for a few head coach jobs that summer.) Sarver said D'Antoni rejected Thibodeau and instead promoted his brother Dan D'Antoni to lead assistant. Thibodeau, of course, eventually landed in Boston, where he implemented what became the league's highest-rated defense.
Did D'Antoni feel threatened by the Thibodeau suggestion? If Sarver and Kerr knew he was stubborn and didn't like having a boss, why did they think he'd approve of having the boss' hand-picked #2 on his staff? Of course, I imagine Suns fans will be less than ecstatic that D'Antoni put his own autonomy in higher regard than the team's plight. With Thibodeau's specific expertise, the team could have won a title.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-12-2008 @ 8:15PM
Paul from Vancouver said...
Kerr was dead on. Marion is NOT worth max money. He's a great defender, rebounder, etc but he's a limited offensive player who could never create anything for himself. No dribble drive, no post moves, no jumper. Playing in a different system, his production in Miami is down nearly 10ppg and 3rpg from its peak in Phoenix and he's only 30 years old.
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12-13-2008 @ 1:41PM
Alvin said...
You mean to tell me that the Suns could have had Mr. Thibodeau! I just think that if winning comes first , along with the team, then your ego should come second, this kind of person has no place with the Suns oranganization! Steve Kerr knows basketball and he knows what he's doing, even if the Suns have not gelled together as of yet, they will. And with J- Rich on board now, they now have someone to go at Kobe and the powerful Lakers!
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12-12-2008 @ 11:11PM
Martin said...
I can understand the "walking on eggshells" analogy. D'Antoni seems to have a little bit of paranoia in him. He got furious when Phil Jackson called a timeout immediately after a timeout by Phoenix. Although in many cases, Jackson does play some mind games, in this instance his explanation seemed reasonable. [The Lakers were going to be charged with a mandatory timeout within the next minute, and he felt that his players could use one longer break rather than two short breaks.] However, D'Antoni came completely unglued and started screaming at Jackson.
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