thelesterlee
It’s difficult to call the Charlotte Hornets 2021-22 NBA season a disappointment. Sure, they finished as the 10th seed again but they won 10 more games than they did last year. Unfortunately, they still fired their head coach and there are rumors they are about to interview Mike D’Antoni. Amazing.
Mike D’Antoni is one of my favorite NBA coaches because of his ability to win a bajillion games with the most talented players of the era only to enter the playoffs and have no idea how to win 4 out of 7 games.
D’Antoni coached Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant and James Harden. He has a 54-56 record in the playoffs. But perhaps a young team like the Hornets only needs a playoff appearance and winning the title is the goal, ya know, after they fire D’Antoni in 3 years.
But there are two reasons to be excited about this potential hiring. LaMelo Ball was Rookie of the Year last season. He made his first All-Star game this year. He could be one of the faces of the league and a perennial MVP candidate under D’Antoni’s system that consists almost entirely of one play: Let the point guard dribble for 23 out of the 24 seconds in the shot clock and no one else touches the ball unless the point guard allows it.
LaMelo is about to lead the NBA in usage rate. He is going to put up ridiculous numbers because he will have the ball in his hands nonstop. Ball jerseys will be depleted from warehouses nationwide. Analysts will shit on him every chance they get because they hate D’Antoni’s system.
Plus, you can’t ignore the trade rumors. It has been reported that a possible Russell Westbrook landing spot is Charlotte in exchange for Gordon Hayward’s contract. If you recall, the last time D’Antoni coached Russell Westbrook he literally resigned at the end of the season.
Here we are in the bubble. The Lakers—who would go on to win the title—didn’t even care to guard Westbrook on the perimeter. Russ went 7-for-27 from 3 in this series and had a -46 plus-minus. Just the worst player on the floor.
Run. It. Back.
The combination of LaMelo putting up crazy franchise records every night and Westbrook putting together the worst games ever will be the best storyline of the season. Charlotte lost 103-132 to the Hawks in the play-in game. Can you imagine how much worse their defense will be with D’Antoni? Teams are going to score 200 points.
Please hire Mike D’Antoni, yesterday.
