Mike D’Antoni was brought in as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers just five games into the season last year after the team decided to part ways with Mike Brown. That apparently hurt the new coach’s relationship with his players, specifically vested veteran Antawn Jamison.
Jamison played his 15th season in the league for the Lakers last year, expecting to compete for a title on a team that was supposed to feature Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Jamison, at least a little bit. Injuries derailed portions of the season for the first three, but Jamison was given no explanation for why he fell out of D’Antoni’s rotation for portions of the season -- something he puts, in part, on D’Antoni.
Jamison talked to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne about his joining the Clippers and said how excited he is to work with new head coach Doc Rivers, but the veteran forward explained D’Antoni and the team didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye early in the season.“Mike was pretty much put in a difficult situation,” Jamison said. “There was no training camp where he could get a feel for guys. There was a breakdown of communication when we first got there. And throughout the season it was kind of up and down.
“I don’t dislike Mike. I obviously respect him as a coach. In my eyes, one of the best offensive-minded coaches in the league. I just think he was put in a tough situation ... but toward the end of the season you saw him kind of open up, and we started to have a relationship, and I kind of understood where he was coming from.”Ultimately it makes sense that D’Antoni wasn’t as open with the players when he first arrived, but it likely didn’t help chemistry -- a Lakers’ problem throughout the season -- when the players didn’t even feel their coach was open with them.