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Mike D\u2019Antoni credits much of his success to Steve Nash, who saw the game much the same way he did.<\/p>\n
Mike D\u2019Antoni\u2019s<\/a> coaching influences sprang from West Virginia, where he played prep basketball at Mullens High School and college basketball at Marshall. They came from Europe where D\u2019Antoni had a stellar career as one of the best point guards in Italy\u2019s top pro league and from Doug Moe<\/a> who D\u2019Antoni played for briefly in the NBA.<\/p>\n The amalgamation of those influences provided inspiration for D\u2019Antoni who as a coach ushered in a style of basketball that altered the direction of the NBA and college hoops.<\/p>\n Play fast, spread the court, shoot 3-pointers, attack the rim and see what happens when you play your five best players regardless of size.<\/p>\n When D\u2019Antoni got his chance to see what that kind of offense could do as head coach of the Phoenix Suns in 2003, he flourished and began cementing his reputation as an offensive innovator.<\/p>\n \u201cMost coaches are the products of all the past experiences, and I had a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cEven growing up, the teams I always played on in high school and in college at Marshall, we were always undersized and fast and were really successful. And then as you get into the pros, you just follow your coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n For his accomplishments as a head coach in Italy and with the Suns, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, D\u2019Antoni will be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame<\/a> Saturday. He enters the Hall as a contributor.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just an unbelievably proud moment, and I\u2019m deeply honored,\u201d D\u2019Antoni said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that I didn\u2019t expect.\u201d<\/p>\n Expected or not, his impact on basketball is undeniable. In 16 seasons as an NBA head coach, D\u2019Antoni was 672-527 in the regular season and 54-56 in the playoffs. He earned Coach of the Year honors in 2004-05<\/a> and 2016-17<\/a>, took three teams to the Western Conference Finals (Phoenix in 2005 and 2006 and Houston in 2018) and coached two players in their MVP seasons (Steve Nash twice and James Harden once).<\/p>\n His first full season with the Suns in 2004-05 featured Steve Nash, Amar\u2019e Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson. They started 31-4 and finished 62-20. The Suns led the league in scoring (110.4 points per game), offensive efficiency (114.5 points per 100 possessions) and pace (95.9). They were No. 1 in 3s made (9.7 per game), 3s attempted (24.7 per game) and 3-point shooting percentage (.393).<\/p>\n They confounded the rest of the league \u2013 it was in some ways an antidote to Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Tim Duncan and other paint-dominant big men \u2013 and D\u2019Antoni\u2019s Suns set in motion an offensive style that permeates today. Last season, the Golden State Warriors \u2013 their success and four championships are not lost on D\u2019Antoni \u2013 shot 44.1 3s per game and even the No. 30 team in 3s attempted per game, the Sacramento Kings, shot 30.2 per game.<\/p>\n They weren\u2019t the first team to play fast, shoot a lot of 3s or play small, especially at center and power forward, but D\u2019Antoni combined those methods in a way that pushed offensive innovation. Those Suns were immortalized in Jack McCallum\u2019s book :07 Seconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin\u2019 and Gunnin\u2019 Phoenix Suns<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA coach is only as good as his players are,\u201d D\u2019Antoni said. \u201cAnd I got really lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u2019Antoni named a handful of those players, but none were as instrumental in executing his vision as Nash, who saw the game similarly and had the skillset as a ballhandler, passer and shooter to make it work. Nash had a gift for quickly exploiting defensive weaknesses.<\/p>\n \u201cI got lucky with Steve Nash,\u201d D\u2019Antoni said. \u201cYou always hear through the years, you have a good point guard, you\u2019re going to be successful as a team. I was just trying to maximize the point guard, trying to maximize spacing, use the three. And I just went with it. You tweak it every year, you do a little bit different. You have different personnel. But the basics were there. It started in Italy and I just kind of ran with it.\u201d<\/p>\n As a player, especially in Italy, D\u2019Antoni acknowledged he wasn\u2019t a great finisher in the paint, so he liked shooting 3s. As a coach in Italy, he was enamored with the skillset of Europeans no matter what position they played. Ballhandling, passing and shooting from all areas of the court were necessary for all players, and D\u2019Antoni also became frustrated with a paint area clogged with defenders.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one thing that I was able to jump on real quick was the big guys. I thought they were much more skilled,\u201d D\u2019Antoni said. \u201cThey could shoot the 3, they could run, they could handle the ball. We could do a lot of different things, and I could open up the game a lot more because of their skill. So that was probably the influence that Europe gave me was that you can play five out because you\u2019re center and four guy and everybody, you have five skilled players on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n With success in Italy \u2013 two Italian league championships, two Italian Supercup titles and a EuroLeague Final Four appearance \u2013 D\u2019Antoni craved an opportunity to see if his offensive ideas would work in the NBA. He also admitted that came with consternation.<\/p>\n \u201cI was insecure as a coach coming back to the NBA whether it would work or not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n