A biography for Mike D'Antonihasn’t been written yet.
“The only thing I try to do as a coach is just stay on message and pound the points home.”
“The three-point line changed everything and the players' ability to be able to make three-pointers changed how you attacked the basket.”
“You have to play offense and defense without thinking, and react like you know what to do, but if you're thinking of where to be and 1,000 other things you can lose focus. You're trying to play hard, but you're overthinking.”
“If the best that we have is an iso, or if my personnel on my team dictates that that is really good, then that's what we're going to do.”
“The only thing we can ask players is to play as hard as they can. Whether you're happy or not doesn't really matter if you are playing as hard as you can.”
“Almost everyone in the family have been schoolteachers, been in education forever.”
“The big men aren't going away, they're just getting better.”
“As a coach, you're worried about everything.”
“Defense is always collective. You have to do it collectively.”
“You know what's fun about basketball? It keeps evolving, and it keeps changing a little bit. And the older guys want to try to hold it back to how they grew up, and it's not the same. You've got to change with the times, and some of the guys you've got to drag across the finish line.”
“I don't buy it is all about the rings because there are a lot of guys that got rings that can't play a lick. They happened to be on the bench with some great players, so I don't buy into that totally.”
“If you're a ball stopper, usually you're inefficient.”
“I think the bottom line, even though there are some bumps and bruises here and there, is Kobe will lead you to victories.”
“Every coach is paranoid.”
“I hate when guys say: 'Hey I didn't get my touches.'”
“Chemistry on the floor - without it, you can't win.”
“A lot of 3s, a lot of ball movement, a lot of quick movements. Yes, you can win that way.”
“My whole philosophy is 24 seconds or less. I don't care if it's seven or 10 or 20, we just have to get one good shot in those 24 seconds and that's what we'll do.”
“It was reported that I said I wouldn't, shouldn't have gone to New York. No. I said I shouldn't have left Steve Nash. It's a little bit different on the meaning.”
“It's basketball. This is great. How do you get scars from something you love? You can get some regrets, 'I wish I would've done that.' But there's no scars. This is too good.”