Philadelphia 76ers: Don’t hire Mike D’Antoni

The Philadelphia 76ers should avoid Mike D’Antoni at all costs.

Philadelphia 76ers fans, front office, Elton Brand, if you are reading this, I submit unto the following: Don’t hire Mike D’Antoni.

Okay…that didn’t pop off the screen enough for me and probably not for you either. So I’ll say it again…DO NOT HIRE MIKE D’ANTONI.

There. That’s more like it.

Nothing personal, just Sixers business.

“Why? What’s wrong with D’Antoni?”

Glad that you asked. My honest reply? Nothing! D’Antoni is as decorated a coach in the NBA and internationally.

Two-time NBA coach of the year in 2005 & 2017
Two-time NBA all-star game coach in 2007 & 2018
Two-time Italian League champion in 1997 & 2002
Two-time Italian SuperCup winner in 2001 & 2002
Conductor of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns teams which revolutionized the NBA in the mid 2000s

D’Antoni’s up-tempo style, while spacing the floor for the shooters that he deploys, creates mismatches for defenses. It has been successful, evidenced by his career coaching record of 718-555 and a 56.4 winning percentage. If there is a person that’s responsible for the 3-point era of the NBA, Mike D’Antoni is the guy. Many teams have adapted to this style and have won with it. Most notably, the Golden State Warriors with three championships in five years with a Steve Nash-esque guy named Stephen Curry. He’s pretty good, if you didn’t know.

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D’Antoni has the goods, proven as a coach, instigated the long-range revolution that has scouts scurrying to find shooters, and trainers making shooters out of non-shooters to create space on the floor.

Seems like an easy choice. So, why did reports that the vacant coaching job in Philadelphia is D’Antoni’s to “lose” make me scream with the frustration of an Eagles fan who watched three years of collapses from 2001 to 2003?

Rasheed Wallace famously coined the legendary phrase, “Ball Don’t Lie”.

That inspired a phrase that I live by daily: “Fruit tells the Truth”.

What does the fruit on D’Antoni’s tree tell us? That his style of play, while perfectly adapted to the modern era which we watch today, does not translate to the very thing that us Sixer fans care about most: a championship. Why doesn’t it translate to championships? One simple word that has hampered D’Antoni since those Phoenix run-and-gun days…

Defense.

That’s the fruit that grows on the tree of Mike D’Antoni.

Don’t believe me? No further evidence needed than the recently ended tenure in Houston. Look at the stats via Basketball-Reference.com:

2019-2020 Houston defensive rating: 14th of 30
2018-2019 Houston defensive rating: 17th of 30
2017-2018 Houston defensive rating: 6th of 30
2016-2017 Houston defensive rating: 18th of 30

Combine that with his defensive ratings from his tenure in Phoenix, New York, and Los Angeles, D’Antoni historically has had subpar defensive teams. Only twice in his coaching career has D’Antoni fielded a top 10 defensive team: the 2017-18 Rockets, and the 2011-12 Knicks (Which season D’Antoni didn’t finish due to his resignation. Mike Woodson finished the season).

Yes, the league has grown more offensively potent over the last decade, but the old saying still rings true: defense wins championships. Look at the last five NBA champions:

2018-19 Toronto Raptors: 5th ranked defensive
2017-18 Golden State Warriors: 11th ranked defense
2016-17 Golden State Warriors: 2nd ranked defense
2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers: 10th ranked defense
2014-15 Golden State Warriors: 1st ranked defense

If we go back further, the stats will prove without a doubt that to win an NBA title, you must defend, and defend well. Mike D’Antoni-coached teams have not fared well in that area. Yet, instead of trying to cement the defensive side of the ball, D’Antoni tries to use schemes to create just enough defense to further push his high-octane offense.

Look at the moves made in Houston this past season: traded Clint Capela in favor of a small-ball lineup featuring James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Robert Covington, and P.J. Tucker. That lineup did all that they could, but the glaring defensive issues shined bright in their five-game exit at the hands of LeBron James and Co. in the West Semis.

D’Antoni had no answers defensively for L.A.’s small ball lineup. The same way that he had no answers to change the direction of the 2018 West Finals when Houston shot the Warriors back into the game by missing 27 straight 3-pointers, going 7-for-44 in the decisive Game 7.

What does this say for Sixers fans? That an already questionable lineup featuring pieces around them that do not fit, will not fare well with a coach that has not seemed to adjust when the time calls for it.

Mike D’Antoni has had two decades worth of coaching to show that he is the right leader for a championship team. He hasn’t proven it. Yet, sources say that he is the favorite for the coaching vacancy in the city of Brotherly Love.

Maya Angelou famously said: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

We have seen who D’Antoni is. There’s no reason to believe that a change will occur should he become head coach of the 76ers.

The Sixers front office would be better advised to consider Tyronn Lue. A coach younger in years coached, but proven to have a style that will benefit Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and company. Moves will have to be made to better equip this team, but I believe that Lue will get the most out of the Sixers’ two young stars.

However, a D’Antoni signing, and the clock will start silently ticking on possibly both Embiid and Simmons as D’Antoni will look to find pieces that will complement his system.

We’ve seen what happens when a coach blows up a team that was a few moves away from the Promised Land (There’s a shot for you, Chip Kelly!).

The Sixers are a few moves away from championship level. It can all come crumbling down with a wrong coaching hire. Elton Brand, don’t mess this up, or the Process is over.

I said it earlier, so I’ll end this with the aforementioned statement:

DO. NOT. HIRE. MIKE. D’ANTONI.

Sixers fans deserve better.

Let me introduce myself to the FanSided community. Hi! My name is Sheldon J. Washington. Lifelong Philadelphia 76ers fan and NBA fan, husband, father of three, born and raised in Philadelphia, now a resident of Atlanta, GA. I am 35 years young, and I am a product of the A.I. era.

Allen Iverson is, to me, one of the top 10 best players in NBA history. Can’t change my mind on that. I loved the Warriors’ run, the most underrated player in history to me, is Rasheed Wallace; Kobe Bryant’s passing has me in tears every time I see something regarding him on social media, my current favorite player is Kawhi Leonard (don’t ask me how the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead. Tweet Doc Rivers) and being a writer that covers the NBA is a dream of mine.

Thank you to FanSided for giving me the opportunity to write about my hometown team. This is a prestigious honor that isn’t taken for granted. My understanding of the game of basketball, and my passion as a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers, I will translate to the editorial world in hopes of helping this brand continue to build on an already awesome portfolio of articles and commentary from an established group of staff writers and contributors who put the time and effort to give the fans their very best.

Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!

Now, since all the pleasantries are out of the way, I hope that my very first article doesn’t offend anyone in any way, shape, or form. But someone has to say it. And since I have not seen this train of thought anywhere else since Brett Brown was fired, I figured that its best to very frank, and deliberate about this position.