A former Lakers coach will be inducted into Hall of Fame

The Los Angeles Lakers have been blessed enough to have some legendary coaches over the years. Most notably, they had Pat Riley and Phil Jackson at the helm through most of the 1980s and 2000s, respectively, and they have also had a few coaches on the next tier down, such as Bill Sharman, who, in 1972, guided them to their first NBA championship since moving to Southern California. For the better part of two seasons, they also had Mike D'Antoni, who is credited with transforming the league from one that was infested with slowdown basketball to one that has been defined by pace and space basketball for the last decade or so.

D'Antoni, whose last head coaching gig was with the Houston Rockets six years ago, will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year. An important figure in the evolution of modern basketball who elevated the game through his uptempo, space and pace philosophy that helped redefine offensive strategy, emphasizing ball movement, shooting, and efficiency and shaping the analytics-driven era of the sport — known as… pic. twitter.

com/Qvz4fpaKPe — Basketball HOF (@Hoophall) April 4, 2026 After introducing the NBA to his "Seven Seconds or Less" offensive philosophy as the Phoenix Suns' head coach from 2003 to 2008, he spent four seasons with the New York Knicks before the Lakers hired him early in the 2012-13 campaign. The Lakers had fired Mike Brown after a 1-4 start, and they infamously chose D'Antoni over Jackson, whom they contacted and interviewed about the job opening. D'Antoni presided over a team that suffered from a massive rash of injuries, including a torn Achilles tendon Kobe Bryant sustained in April 2013.

He went 67-87 before resigning following the 2013-14 season. He would then spend four seasons as the Houston Rockets' head coach, and his last coaching gig was as an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets five seasons ago. While D'Antoni never reached the NBA Finals as a coach, his imprint on the sport of basketball is unmistakable, and he changed the game for the better.