LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni late Sunday night, signing the former coach of the Suns and Knicks to replace Mike Brown.
The Lakers and D’Antoni’s agent, Warren LeGarie, confirmed the deal two days after the Lakers fired Brown five games into the season.
D’Antoni agreed to a three-year deal with a team option for a fourth season.
D’Antoni got the high-profile job running the 16-time NBA champions only after the club’s negotiations broke down with former Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The 11-time NBA champion coach met with Lakers owners Jerry and Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak on Saturday to discuss a return for a third stint on Los Angeles’ bench.
The Lakers’ top brass instead went with D’Antoni, who coached Lakers point guard Steve Nash during five seasons in Phoenix. Nash won two MVP awards while running D’Antoni’s signature up-tempo offense for the coach’s final four seasons, when they won at least 54 games each season and reached two Western Conference finals.
D’Antoni then coached New York for the past four seasons, resigning last March after a largely unsuccessful tenure featuring just one playoff appearance and no postseason victories. D’Antoni also coached the Denver Nuggets during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.
Nash and Kobe Bryant both have expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of playing for D’Antoni, although Bryant also campaigned eagerly for Jackson. Bryant idolized D’Antoni while growing up in Italy, where D’Antoni was a star player for Olimpia Milano in the Italian pro league.
D’Antoni underwent knee replacement surgery earlier this month and could be limited in his mobility and travel for the first few weeks of his tenure in Los Angeles, although the Lakers likely won’t announce specifics until later in the week.
Jackson won five titles and reached seven NBA finals during two stints totaling 11 seasons with Los Angeles. He walked away from the club 18 months ago after a second-round playoff sweep by Dallas, and Brown led Los Angeles to a 41-25 mark and another second-round playoff defeat last summer.
The Lakers traded for Nash and Dwight Howard, setting up a season of enormous expectations for Brown — but the Lakers struggled to learn his new, Princeton-influenced offense while playing mediocre defense.
After the Lakers stumbled out of the gate while Howard and Bryant missed preseason games to preserve their health, Nash incurred a small fracture in his leg during the Lakers’ second regular-season game, keeping him out of the lineup for their past five games and for at least another week.
The Lakers reached a deal with D’Antoni several hours after they beat Sacramento 103-90 for their second straight win under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff.
The Lakers have improved to 3-4 after following up their winless preseason with four losses in their first five regular-season games, the club’s worst start since 1993.
D’Antoni’s reputation as an innovative coach wasn’t helped by his tenure in New York, although he took over a moribund franchise and eventually returned it to respectability.
Despite his reputation for offensive acumen, D’Antoni’s NBA teams typically have played fairly solid defense, statistically speaking — and they never had the imposing Howard or defensive stopper Metta World Peace in their lineups.
Nash had his best NBA seasons as the versatile quarterback of the Suns’ offense under D’Antoni, and point guard Jeremy Lin became a star on the Knicks last season while filling much the same role. D’Antoni resigned late last season following a six-game losing streak, surprising many observers.
The Lakers’ next game is Tuesday night against San Antonio. Phoenix visits Staples Center on Friday.
![]()
The Egypt captain is a man on a mission in Morocco, having scored four goals in four appearances on the Pharaoh’s run to the semifinals as he targets winning AFCON for the first time.
Salah, who turns 34 in June, is running out of time to win a major international honor with his country having suffered the agony of two final defeats in the competition.
After being part of the Egypt side beaten by Cameroon in the 2017 final in Gabon, Salah skippered the team beaten on penalties by Senegal in 2022 in Yaounde.
Mane had a penalty saved in normal time on that dramatic night at the Olembe Stadium, but recovered to score the decisive kick in the shoot-out as Senegal became African champions for the first time.
Salah was due to take Egypt’s next penalty but would not get the chance to step up and was already on the verge of tears as Mane prepared to strike the decisive blow.
Less than two months later, the teams met again in a decisive World Cup qualifying play-off and once more penalties were needed — Salah missed, Mane scored and Senegal won.
They went on to reach the last 16 in Qatar while Egypt failed to qualify for the first World Cup held in the Arab world.
Both have qualified for the upcoming tournament in North America, providing what will perhaps be a last chance for the two veterans to star on the biggest stage of all.
- Feeling the pressure -
For now, however, it is all about continental supremacy as Senegal chase a third final in four editions of AFCON, and Egypt aim to take a step closer to a record-extending eighth title overall.
Mane, who also turns 34 this year, will feel less pressure having already collected a Cup of Nations winner’s medal.
“Nobody, even in Egypt, wants to win this trophy more than me,” admitted Salah after helping his team beat Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals.
“I have won almost every prize. This is the title I am waiting for.”
The pair played together under Jurgen Klopp for five years between Salah arriving from Roma in 2017 and Mane’s departure.
They formed a formidable front line along with Roberto Firmino and together won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020 — there were also two defeats to Real in Champions League finals.
But Mane recently admitted that sometimes the pair found it difficult to get along on the pitch.
“I think Mo is first of all a very nice guy. I think though inside the pitch, sometimes he would pass to me and sometimes he wouldn’t,” Mane said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
“Only Bobby (Firmino) was there to share the balls. Sometimes it was like this,” he added with a laugh.
“I still remember one game when I was really, really angry because he doesn’t pass me the ball.”
This time they really are on opposing sides, as two former African footballers of the year look to lead their countries to glory — for the second time, in Mane’s case.
“The pressure for me is over. Before I won the African Cup, sometimes I played badly because of the pressure,” Mane, who has one goal at this AFCON, admitted on the same podcast.
“All that on your shoulders is not easy,” he added, and Salah is well aware of that.
Lakers hire Mike D’Antoni as new coach
Lakers hire Mike D’Antoni as new coach
Salah and Mane meet again with AFCON final place on the line
- Salah, who turns 34 in June, is running out of time to win a major international honor with his country
- Mane, who also turns 34 this year, will feel less pressure having already collected a Cup of Nations winner’s medal
RABAT: Three years after they last appeared together, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah meet again on Wednesday on opposing sides as Senegal and Egypt clash for a place in the Africa Cup of Nations final.
The last-four showdown in the Moroccan city of Tangiers will be the first time the former Liverpool teammates have shared a pitch since the Anfield club lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final in May 2022.
Shortly after that, Mane left for Bayern Munich before moving to Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League a year later.
Salah, meanwhile, has been heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in the near future but remains for now at Liverpool despite falling out of favor with coach Arne Slot before coming to the Cup of Nations.
The Egypt captain is a man on a mission in Morocco, having scored four goals in four appearances on the Pharaoh’s run to the semifinals as he targets winning AFCON for the first time.
Salah, who turns 34 in June, is running out of time to win a major international honor with his country having suffered the agony of two final defeats in the competition.
After being part of the Egypt side beaten by Cameroon in the 2017 final in Gabon, Salah skippered the team beaten on penalties by Senegal in 2022 in Yaounde.
Mane had a penalty saved in normal time on that dramatic night at the Olembe Stadium, but recovered to score the decisive kick in the shoot-out as Senegal became African champions for the first time.
Salah was due to take Egypt’s next penalty but would not get the chance to step up and was already on the verge of tears as Mane prepared to strike the decisive blow.
Less than two months later, the teams met again in a decisive World Cup qualifying play-off and once more penalties were needed — Salah missed, Mane scored and Senegal won.
They went on to reach the last 16 in Qatar while Egypt failed to qualify for the first World Cup held in the Arab world.
Both have qualified for the upcoming tournament in North America, providing what will perhaps be a last chance for the two veterans to star on the biggest stage of all.
- Feeling the pressure -
For now, however, it is all about continental supremacy as Senegal chase a third final in four editions of AFCON, and Egypt aim to take a step closer to a record-extending eighth title overall.
Mane, who also turns 34 this year, will feel less pressure having already collected a Cup of Nations winner’s medal.
“Nobody, even in Egypt, wants to win this trophy more than me,” admitted Salah after helping his team beat Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals.
“I have won almost every prize. This is the title I am waiting for.”
The pair played together under Jurgen Klopp for five years between Salah arriving from Roma in 2017 and Mane’s departure.
They formed a formidable front line along with Roberto Firmino and together won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020 — there were also two defeats to Real in Champions League finals.
But Mane recently admitted that sometimes the pair found it difficult to get along on the pitch.
“I think Mo is first of all a very nice guy. I think though inside the pitch, sometimes he would pass to me and sometimes he wouldn’t,” Mane said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
“Only Bobby (Firmino) was there to share the balls. Sometimes it was like this,” he added with a laugh.
“I still remember one game when I was really, really angry because he doesn’t pass me the ball.”
This time they really are on opposing sides, as two former African footballers of the year look to lead their countries to glory — for the second time, in Mane’s case.
“The pressure for me is over. Before I won the African Cup, sometimes I played badly because of the pressure,” Mane, who has one goal at this AFCON, admitted on the same podcast.
“All that on your shoulders is not easy,” he added, and Salah is well aware of that.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.