NBA Rumors: Former Sixers Assistant Mike D’Antoni Will Meet With Hornets

One name that’s been consistently linked to the Philadelphia 76ers throughout the 2021-2022 NBA season is Mike D’Antoni.

Coaching in the NBA since 1997, D’Antoni has had his fair share of jobs around the league. Among the handful of coaching jobs he’s had, D’Antoni coached with the Sixers as he was an associate head coach on Brett Brown’s staff in 2015-2016.

After that, he was hired to run the Houston Rockets from 2016 to 2020. After the 2019-2020 season concluded, D’Antoni parted ways with the Rockets. So did Houston’s General Manager, Daryl Morey. After Morey left the Rockets’ front office, he joined the Sixers to become their President of Basketball Operations.

From then on, D’Antoni and former Rockets star James Harden were linked as potential prospects to join the Sixers considering how close they are with Morey.

At this point, Harden is a member of the Sixers. After the 76ers lost in the second round of the 2022 NBA playoffs, many speculated that 76ers head coach Doc Rivers could be on his way out while D’Antoni could be coming in for a Morey-Harden reunion.

However, the Sixers seem committed to keeping Rivers. Meanwhile, D’Antoni is garnering interest to join the Charlotte Hornets as their next head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

As the franchise’s coaching search nears an end, the Charlotte Hornets are set to bring Mike D’Antoni to meet with owner Michael Jordan later this week, sources tell ESPN. D’Antoni will follow Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson, who’s expected to meet with Jordan on Tuesday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 6, 2022

At some point this week, D’Antoni is reportedly expected to meet with Michael Jordan. While he isn’t the only candidate left on the board for the Hornets, it seems there is a good chance D’Antoni is a finalist for Charlotte’s head coaching job.

If the Hornets bring in D’Antoni officially, that will become the veteran head coach’s sixth team following stints with the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Rockets.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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