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This past Friday (November 9th), the L.A. Lakers fired Mike Brown as their head coach. As an avid Laker fan, I will remember this day because I blew off writing my essay because I was too busy looking up the gossip behind what happened. After an early loss in the playoffs last year, Lakers fans were ready for a new, improved Lakers team to take back the championship this year. However, the Lakers started out the season 1-4 with a winless preseason (0-8).

 

With Dwight Howard and Steve Nash as new additions to the team, it's hard for anyone to understand why the Lakers were doing so bad. Having all that talent and losing 11 straight games, the Lakers definitely needed a change. The owners and general managers decided that they didn’t see improvement or the results that they were expecting for the team, so they cut Brown loose.

 

That Friday night, the Lakers had to get over Brown in a hurry, as they were playing against the Golden State Warriors. Bernie Bickerstaff acted as interim head coach and the Lakers got some results, winning 101-77. That is what I want to see!

 

It is hard to look at these results and not think that Brown was indeed the problem. And on Sunday, November 11, the Lakers won again, against the Sacramento Kings (103-90).

 

Going 2-0 without Brown, the Lakers still had an issue they needed to resolve -- they need a new head coach. There was a lot of talk about getting back their former coach Phil Jackson, who led the Lakers to five championship rings, with a total of eleven just for himself. Chants from Lakers fans at the game included “We want Phil!” Its a natural choice, but after a lot of negotiation, the Lakers general managers and owners decided that Phil’s demands were too much and decided to hire Mike D’Antoni.

 

D’Antoni had a good relationship with Kobe Bryant and even coached Steve Nash when he was on the Phoenix Suns. D’Antoni will be coming to Los Angeles in a few days due to his recent knee-replacement surgery and will sign a four-year contract with the team.

 

Only time will tell whether D’Antoni and the Lakers will be able to take the championship back to Los Angeles this year, but if the first two games tell us anything about what’s to come, its looking pretty good for the Lake Show.

 

 

- Amanda Baltazar, YH Staff