Mike D'Antoni hired: New Lakers coach will arrive in L.A. Wednesday

Mike D'Antoni will arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday after he was named the new head coach of the Lakers on Monday.

Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated reports that D'Antoni is still on crutches after a knee replacement and will take a couple days to acclimate himself with the team after arriving on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Lakers stated on their website that owner Dr. Jerry Buss, executive vice president Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak all agreed that D'Antoni was the best coach for the team.

Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash expressed support for the idea of playing for D'Antoni as well. Nash played for D'Antoni in Phoenix when he won back-to-back MVP awards in 2005 and 2006. D'Antoni had an opportunity to coach Bryant as an assistant with Team USA in the 2012 Olympic games.

The Lakers will play the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday before facing D'Antoni's old team the Phoenix Suns on Friday.