I really don't want to reiterate all my previous points nor am I a huge Dant supporter. What I am is pragmatic...I see that people are unfairly blaming Dant for our teams woes and distorting his record. Before we get into a long debate lets post the guys resume...shall we?
Player career
After a college career at
Marshall University, D'Antoni was drafted by the
Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the 2nd round of the
1973 NBA Draft. He was all-NBA Rookie Second Team choice for 1974. After 3 seasons for the Kings (1973-1976), he played for the
Spirits of St. Louis of the
American Basketball Association in 1976, and for the
San Antonio Spurs (again in the NBA) in 1977. His Spurs career lasted just two games before he found an opportunity to play successfully overseas.
D'Antoni was then called by the Italian team of
Olimpia Milano, starting a career which saw him become the club's all-time leading scorer. He was voted the league?s top point guard of all time in 1990 and he paced his team to five Italian League titles, two
Euroleague titles, two Cups of Italy, one
Korac Cup and one Intercontinental Cup. Being of Italian origin, D'Antoni was also selected to play on the
Italian national team for the
European championship in
1989.
D'Antoni's nickname in Europe was
Ars?ne Lupin for his ability in stealing balls from other players.
Coaching career
[edit] Italy
D?Antoni began his career as head coach for his most loyal club, Milan: here he remained for four seasons, from 1990 to 1994, leading the club to the 1992
European Championship Final Four and 1993
Korac Cup. He was then chosen to coach
Benetton Treviso, another major Italian basketball club. During his tenure (1994?1997), the team captured the
Cup of Europe and Coppa Italia (in 1995) and won the domestic league title in 1996?97. Coach D?Antoni's Italian teams went to the playoffs each season, and he was twice voted the league?s Coach of the Year. In 2001, D'Antoni returned to Italy for a second stint as the coach of Benetton Treviso. In his one season back in Europe, he led the team to a 28?8 record, a league championship and
2002 Euroleague Final Four, coaching a team filled with many former NBA stars.
[edit] Early NBA
The first NBA coaching job held by D'Antoni was with the
Denver Nuggets in
1997-98 as the club?s director of player personnel. He also did some broadcasting work with
TNT during that season. The next year, he became Nuggets head coach, but was fired after a poor performance during the strike-shortened 1998-99 season. D'Antoni then went on to become a scout for San Antonio Spurs during the
1999-2000 season. He was also an assistant for the
Portland Trail Blazers in
2000-01.
[edit] Phoenix Suns
In 2002, he made his return to the NBA as a Phoenix Suns assistant. In 2003, D'Antoni was hired with 61 games left in the season as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference">
[2]</sup> and, despite leading the team to a poor record in the second half of the year, he received a vote of confidence for producing inspired play from an injury riddled team. The next season, D'Antoni helped the team to acquire
Steve Nash, which began an incredible turnaround for the franchise. After the addition of Nash, the D'Antoni-coached Suns won fifty or more games in four consecutive seasons. D'Antoni won the
NBA Coach of the Year Award during his first full season with the Suns. His style, dubbed "Seven Seconds or Less", was described in a
book of that name.
[edit] Team USA
D'Antoni was selected to the coaching staff for the
Team USA Olympic Basketball squad under head coach
Mike Krzyzewski and participated in the
2006 FIBA World Championship, winning a bronze medal.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference">
[3]</sup>. Pundits believe his familiarity with the three-point shot and the zone defense, hallmarks of the international game, will be valuable assets to the team.
D'Antoni has dual citizenship in the United States and Italy: this made him the first Italian ever to lead an
NBA team. He is fluent in both English and Italian.
[edit] New York Knicks
D'Antoni coaching the New York Knicks in 2009.
As of May 5, 2008, D'Antoni was told that he was free to speak with other teams about a coaching job next season, although
Steve Kerr requested he stay with the Suns.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">
[4]</sup> On May 9, D'Antoni was made an offer by the
New York Knicks.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference">
[5]</sup> The next day, D'Antoni accepted the 4 year, $24 million offer and became the Knicks' head coach. <sup id="cite_ref-D.27Antoni_accepts_Knicks_0-1" class="reference">
[1]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference">
[6]</sup> His Knicks career has not yet been as successful as his time with the Suns, but the Knicks have not been expected to contend until at least the 2010-11 campaign, when they are hoping to use their considerable
salary cap space to sign top flight free agents.