The Houston Rockets Have Reportedly Hired Mike D'Antoni

According to multiple reports, the Houston Rockets will hire Mike D’Antoni to be their new head coach.

D’Antoni hasn’t had a head-coaching gig since 2013-14 season, when he led the Lakers to a 27-55 record. The year before, he replaced Mike Brown just 10 games into the season and was tasked with salvaging the supposed Nash-Howard-Bryant super team. We, uh, all know how that went.

D’Antoni was off the radar for a season after leaving the Lakers, but resurfaced this year when Jerry Colangelo brought him on as an associate head coach with the Sixers. That job seems to have functioned as a nice stepping stone back into the league.

Because of his work with the Seven Seconds or Less Suns, it’s hard not to get excited whenever D’Antoni gets a new job. But it’s been almost a decade since he’s coached a team to more than 50 wins, and he’s taking over a team coming off a truly embarrassing and dysfunctional season. It’s also hard to imagine that D’Antoni and Dwight Howard are in any rush to work together again, so they may be without a starting center, too.

And yet, imagine James Harden playing in an offense that gets up and down the floor and allows him to shoot the ball 500 times a game. It could be great or it could be a disaster, but it will be fun to watch either way.

Photo via AP