Mike D’Antoni may now be coaching a Western Conference juggernaut with 65-win upside in the Houston Rockets, but he still has not forgotten about some events that transpired over a decade ago.
D’Antoni’s Rockets were involved in a fight with the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday that resulted in guard Chris Paul being suspended for two games while Lakers Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram drew three and four games, respectively. Speaking about the suspensions on Sunday, D’Antoni got in a funny shot at former NBA commissioner David Stern. Here is what he said, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic:
Mike D’Antoni on the suspensions: “I’m just glad they didn’t suspend Boris Diaw again.”
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) October 21, 2018
D’Antoni is, of course, referencing an incident back in 2007 when he was coaching the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Semis against the San Antonio Spurs. Game 4 of that series saw Spurs veteran Robert Horry hip check Suns star Steve Nash into the scorer’s table late in the fourth quarter. Boris Diaw and Amar’e Stoudemire, two of Phoenix’s top rotation players that year, left the bench area during the incident and were both suspended for Game 5. The Spurs would then go on to win the series in six games and later swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals to win the championship.
Both the league and then-commissioner Stern drew heavy criticism for the decision at the time. With how the suspensions swung the momentum of the series, possibly robbing the Suns of a NBA title in the process, it’s easy to see why D’Antoni has yet to forget some 11 years later.
