It is always better to think before you speak. Especially when you job involves being in front of the media on a daily basis. Mike D’antoni is learning that lesson today after a backlash from Lakers fans. Earlier in the week he responded to a question about how Lakers fans should feel about the season by saying ” they can find another team to root for “. You never want to say that about your fans, and in Los Angeles with all the bright lights and cameras it will always come off even worse. Now he is trying to win fans back. Hit the jump.

@IamJoeSports

“I was an idiot last night,” D’Antoni said after a light practice Tuesday in advance of the Lakers’ Christmas Day showdown with the Miami Heat. “I was out of my mind. I was ticked off. We didn’t play well and I said some stuff I shouldn’t have. It was stupid. That’s me, I just made a mistake.”

“To me, the meaning is this: We got a team that needs to overachieve and we have a lot of injuries and we’re in a tough state right now,” said D’Antoni, referring to the Lakers losing six of their past nine games, including two straight by a combined 46 points. “So, we need everybody to be pulling with us and it’s going to take the whole village to get this done. That was the meaning. I just said it wrong and it came out wrong because I was agitated. But I apologize, and we’ll move on. But we need everybody to be behind these guys. They’re going to play as hard as they can play.”

He actually does deserve a decent amount of credit for helping keep the Lakers somewhat competitive without Kobe most of the season. I am sure this will be the last time he speaks like this.