Extension talks between the Houston Rockets and Mike D’Antoni will resume after the postseason. PJ Tucker shared his piece on why he believes that D’Antoni should remain the team’s head coach.
Tucker called D’Antoni a “player’s coach,” noting that the 69-year-old always takes time to communicate with him, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.
“Mike handles everything the same way. He’s a player’s coach. He always comes to us, me and Russ and James [Harden]. We have meetings all the time and talk about things. That’s one of the things I love about coach is the way he handles things,” Tucker said per Ben DuBose of USA Today.
D’Antoni was hired as the Rockets’ coach in 2016. Tucker, meanwhile, joined the squad in 2017. And in his stint donning the Rockets jersey, Tucker has observed how D’Antoni maintained his resolve amid the victories and especially in the defeats. For Tucker, every single Rockets player would love to have D’Antoni along the sidelines once again.
“In the offseason and all the years I’ve been here, it’s always been like that. Through all the roller coasters, the ups and downs, the winning streaks, the losing streaks, he’s always the same. I think it’s great. 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.”
Whether the Rockets front office consider Tucker’s endorsement is a matter of wait-and-see. But first, they need to focus on the task at hand: winning the title.
Game 2 between the Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder will be on Thursday.
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