Mike D’Antoni has been swimming upstream against the ire of Los Angeles Lakers fans all season.
He wasn’t the popular choice to replace Mike Brown, who was fired after five games this season, and the Lakers faithful have appointed him the scapegoat for everything that has gone wrong for the franchise this season, everything except for the untimely passing of Dr. Jerry Buss.
Some in the media have been equally as careless, criticizing every move, every tactic, every post-game comment without taking everything into account.
Well, according to a story via Pro Basketball Talk, Lakers legend Jerry West, has come the defense of the embattled head coach while appearing on Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley on ESPN LA 710 radio.
“I think there’s been far too much criticism of Mike [D’Antoni],” West said… “I think it’s grossly unfair to him. He inherited a team that had a bunch of injuries,” West said. “He inherited a team without a training camp. I think he’s done a nice job, to be honest with you.”
A common criticism of D’Antoni’s coaching style is that the ball doesn’t go inside enough, West shot down the validity of that misconception also.
“All these social media things about throw the ball inside — you have to be able make shots from the outside if you’re going to be able to make shots from the inside,” West said.
“The Logo” has spoken.