i'm not sure if the lakers have the precise personnel for what he typically does, but hiring an excellent basketball mind is usually a reasonable decision. even if the lakers aren't as fast or perimeter-based as d'antoni's teams in the past, he's got nash to orchestrate the offense and the best defensive big man in the NBA. plus, kobe loves him, which seems to lower the chances of a carmelo-style sabotage.

anyone bitching about d'antoni's coaching of defense is clueless. the suns, even when anchored by porous amare stoudemire, were never worse than mediocre (17th, 16th, 13th, 16th in points given up per possession). and the knicks, until camelo tanked to derail linsanity, were 5th in the NBA in defense (and 2nd during the time melo and amare were both hurt). d'antoni isn't thibs, but he's fine. and he has dwight howard now.

i hope the lakers win with him, however distasteful that might be. it's important for people with fresh ideas about basketball to succeed and be emulated.