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Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni still doesn’t have a contract beyond the 2019-20 season, but there’s certainly a clear case for the franchise to keep him around for 2020-21 and beyond.
At the forefront of that case for D’Antoni is the consistency of Houston’s relative success in the Western Conference playoffs.
With Houston’s series-clinching victory over Oklahoma City in Game 7 on Wednesday night, the Rockets advanced to at least the second round of the NBA playoffs for the fourth straight year under D’Antoni.
In the 19 previous seasons from 1997-98 through 2015-16, the Rockets advanced beyond the first round just twice. (That period also includes the first four years of James Harden‘s time in Houston.)
Since 2016-17, the Rockets are the only West team to have advanced to at least the semifinals in each postseason.
“It starts with the players,” D’Antoni said after Game 7, when informed of the accomplishment. Over his four years in Houston. D’Antoni has consistently deflected credit to those around him.
#Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni on the Game 7 win: "It's not about how good you play. It's how hard you play. The 'will to win' is what's important. It's never going to be pretty. It was a great win for us." #OneMission
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) September 3, 2020
Known best for his innovative, guard-friendly offenses, D’Antoni has the best winning percentage of any coach in Rockets history — both in the regular season (.682) and playoffs (.587).
On the all-time Houston coaching list, D’Antoni’s current win totals of 217 in the regular season and 27 in the playoffs trail only Hall of Fame coach and former NBA champion Rudy Tomjanovich (503, 51).
Houston GM Daryl Morey has repeatedly praised D’Antoni’s work as coach and has indicated that the team wants to keep him beyond this season. Earlier in the first-round series, Rockets veteran P.J. Tucker delivered an even stronger endorsement. Among Tucker’s comments:
He’s always with us, no matter what. He’s the first one to come in and say he’ll take the blame. He’ll always look at us and have the same demeanor. Having a veteran group and guys who have been around, having a coach that you can rely on and always be there and have our backs no matter what, I think that’s big. I think that’s why every guy on our team will go to bat for him.
Here's the video of P.J. Tucker on #Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni. Listen to it.
I'm confident that most NBA players don't feel this way about their coach. It's rare to have this level of bond. #OneMission pic.twitter.com/CvONkGbNuK
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) August 20, 2020
Though D’Antoni is the league’s second-oldest coach at 69 years old, he’s made it clear that he wants to continue coaching for multiple additional seasons. But the four-year contract he signed upon joining the Rockets in June 2016 is set to expire after this season, so a new deal is required.
The Rockets tried to extend D’Antoni in the summer of 2019 for at least one more season, but the sides couldn’t reach a financial agreement. However, they’ve vowed to revisit those talks after this season. Should Houston not retain him, other NBA franchises (such as Indiana) would almost certainly be interested, given his proven track record.
To this point, D’Antoni has yet to lead the Rockets to the NBA title that Morey and Harden crave. But his consistent ability to guide Houston deep in the playoffs — which gives the players continued opportunities on the biggest stage — is a strong argument for keeping him around.
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