101 Greats of European Basketball

as his father, Lewis, won the West Virginia high school
state championship with Mullens HS in 1955. Then,
his older brother, Danny, was a successful high school
coach at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. But, most of all,
I knew Mike had a genius quality about him. In fact, his
super-fast play with the Phoenix Suns was the subject
of a book, ‘Seven Seconds or Less’. So, his success in
the NBA, Coach of the Year in 2005, came as no surprise
to me. I knew all this back in 1978.”
Mike D’Antoni, a great player pre-destined to be also
a great coach.
Mike D’Antoni
among the best coaches all-time in the Italian League.
He was an assistant coach to Mike Krzyzewski for Team
USA at the World Cup 2006 in Japan, winning a bronze
medal, and also at the 2012 London Olympics, winning
the gold.
To end this entry, I’d like to quote once more Dan
Peterson, who gives us some more details and insight
into D’Antoni:
“Yes, I knew Mike was going to be a successful coach.
For one thing, he came from a family of great coaches,
101 greats of european basketball
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