Mike D'Antoni is either an evil genius or a blathering idiot. Just hours before his New York Knicks team is set to take the Madison Square Garden floor against the Boston Celtics, he let loose with slam against point guard Rajon Rondo. The Knicks are down 0-3 first-round series against the Celtics and face the very real possibilities of being swept out of the NBA Playoffs on this Easter Sunday but that didn't keep D'Antoni from speaking his mind.
"I'd like to see him play on Minnesota and see how he does. ... They've got three Hall of Famers out there," D'Antoni said according to a tweet from CBS Sports Ken Berger.
During his tenure as coach of the Phoenix Suns we learned a lot about Mike D'Antoni. We know he's a brilliant offensive mind who's incredibly stubborn. We know he's a fiery guy who's never known for prudence when speaking and we know his players love playing for him. The one exception was Amar'e Stoudemire who slammed his former coach for not focusing on defense and then in an ironic turn of events if back playing for him again.
Knowing D'Antoni as we do, his statement to the media isn't a surprise. He was mostly likely deflecting attention from his struggling team and trying to "pull a Phil Jackson" and get in the head of the Celtic's point guard who torched his team in their last meeting.
Then again, maybe he was just speaking candidly and stating the obvious -- Rondo on the Minnesota Timberwolves would most certainly not be racking up the assists and playing as well as he does with the Celtics. Of course, the same can usually be said about almost any player in the league.