Suns president of basketball operations Steve Kerr requested Mike D'Antoni to focus more on defense than offense. The ultimatum came after the Spurs eliminated the Suns in the first round of the 2008 playoffs.
Then-Suns assistant general manager Vinny Del Negro privately wondered to Kerr about D'Antoni's ability to be a championship head coach.
D'Antoni took exception to those claims. He decided he wanted out of Phoenix after hearing complaints about his coaching from his bosses.
Knicks president Donnie Walsh asked Kerr for permission to interview D'Antoni when this story broke out, and Kerr gladly obliged.
It was an opportunity for Kerr to hire a new coach that he can trust.
D'Antoni also interviewed with then-Bulls general manager John Paxson for the Bulls' head coaching position. It looked like he was going to coach the Bulls until Jerry Reinsdorf expressed the same reservations that Kerr had.
After B ...
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Article written by Leslie Monteiro