Mike D'Antoni hired: reaction to new Lakers head coach

There have been some mixed reactions in the early hours of the Los Angeles Lakers' hiring of Mike D'Antoni, but SB Nation Lakers blog Silver Screen and Roll seems to support the move.

Here's Dexter Fishmore's first reaction after the Lakers ended negotiations with Phil Jackson and brought D'Antoni on board with a four-year contract:

"I dig it. Like everyone else I was hoping the team could lure Phil back for one more run, but D'Antoni is a terrific fallback option. He can coach X's and O's, will have the respect of the locker room and will implement a system that's fun as hell to watch. And certainly no one should begrudge Phil his demands, whatever they were. He doesn't owe the Lakers any favors, and if the two couldn't reach a meeting of the minds, that's okay. Life in Lakerdom rolls forward with expectations undiminished."

Fishmore goes on to say both Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant are fans of D'Antoni's work, which should help ease the locker room transition.

Nash won both his MVP awards with D'Antoni as his head coach, and he's had some of the best years of his career under the guidance of the mustached one. As for Bryant, the Lakers' superstar has been watching D'Antoni since the '80s when he was a star in the Italian League, but he also got a chance to learn from him when they worked together on the U.S. national team.

And when you have the blessing of Nash, Bryant and Silver Screen and Roll, what more do you need, folks?