The Philadelphia 76ers are now pursuing Mike D’Antoni after the 69-year old coach ended his stint with the recently-eliminated Houston Rockets.
Mike D’Antoni is now a coaching candidate for the Philadelphia 76ers. (Photo by Andy Clayton-King/AP)
The D’Antoni era has come to an end in Houston. In the aftermath of another Rockets’ failure to enter the NBA Finals, the offensive-minded coach has made it known that he doesn’t plan on re-signing with the team. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported about this very interesting development.
ESPN Sources: Houston coach Mike D’Antoni is informing the franchise’s ownership today that he’s becoming a free agent and won’t return to the Rockets next season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 13, 2020
As Wojnarowksi here points out that D’Antoni is set to become a free agent in the coaching circle, there’s no doubt that the 69-year old coach is bent on leading another team to greater heights. It was then immediately put out that D’Antoni is being considered as the next head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Sixers, who also suffered an early playoff exit this season, have just fired long-time coach Brett Brown. Interestingly, D’Antoni served as Brown’s associate head coach before he took the Rockets job.
D’Antoni served as associate head coach of Brett Brown in Philadelphia during the 2015-16 season. (Photo by Mark J. Terrill/USA TODAY Sports)
Having said all those, D’Antoni’s tenure in Houston was a very successful one. He compiled an impressive win-loss slate of 217 victories against only 101 defeats in the four years that he took over. D’Antoni also led the Rockets to three semifinals appearances, and one conference finals series in which they were just one win away from making it to the Finals.
