The Lakers had quite a tumultuous year. They fired coach Mike Brown after just five games then shockingly hired Mike D’Antoni over the legendary Phil Jackson. They subsequently had a less than stellar season, first round playoff loss after a sweep by the Spurs and now Dwight Howard has chosen not to re-sign and instead join the Houston Rockets. In a interview with Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld, Howard revealed he did give his opinion on the coaching decision but the Lakers chose not to listen.
If Phil Jackson had been more involved with the Lakers or coaching the team, would that have affected your decision?
DH: “Well, I asked to have him as my coach earlier in the year. (pause) The best decision for me was to do what’s best for Dwight. I think this is the best thing for me. This wasn’t a decision about anybody else. I didn’t have anybody pushing me to do anything. This is what Dwight wanted.”
The Lakers choosing Mike D’Antoni over Phil Jackson was already seen as crazy decision but now it’s even more odd since Dwight Howard specifically asked for Phil Jackson and they ignored his request. The Lakers were seemingly trying to do everything in their power to retain Howard and it doesn’t make sense that didn’t hire the Zen master.
