Mike D'Antoni

Michael Andrew D\'Antoni (born May 8, 1951) is an American-Italian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While head coach of the Phoenix Suns, he won NBA Coach of the Year honors for the 2004–05 NBA season after the Suns posted 33 more wins than the previous season. He coached the New York Knicks starting in 2008 before resigning in 2012. He was hired by the Lakers seven games into the 2012–13 season. On June 1, 2016, D\'Antoni was named head coach of the Rockets, and he received his second NBA Coach of the Year award for the 2016–17 season. D\'Antoni, who holds American and Italian dual citizenship, is known for favoring a fast-paced, offense-oriented system.\n', ' After playing high school basketball at Mullens High School, in Mullens, West Virginia, D\'Antoni played college basketball at Marshall University, with the Thundering Herd, from 1970 to 1973.\n', ' After a college basketball career at Marshall University, D\'Antoni was drafted by the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the second round of the 1973 NBA draft. After playing three seasons for the Kings (1973–1975), he played for the Spirits of St. Louis of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1975–76, and for the San Antonio Spurs (again in the NBA) in 1976–77. His Spurs career lasted just two games, before he found an opportunity to play overseas.\n', '