Mike D'Antoni apologizes for criticizing Lakers fans
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni apologized Tuesday and called himself an "idiot" for criticizing the team's fans one night earlier.
After a 117-90 road loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, D'Antoni said that if Lakers fans "are discouraged, they should find another team to root for." The Lakers are 13-15 this season, have lost six of their past 10 games and are missing injured guards Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Steve Blake.
"I was an idiot last night. I was out of my mind. I was ticked off," D'Antoni said after Tuesday's practice. "We didn't play well. That was a game that we could've won and we didn't do it. So I said some stuff I shouldn't have said. That's it. I just made a mistake."
After Monday's loss, D'Antoni said the Lakers players weren't discouraged and were not going to give up.
"We have a team that needs to overachieve. We have a lot of injuries," he said Tuesday. "We're in a tough state, so we need everybody to get [healthy] quick. It's going to take a whole village to get this done and that was the meaning. I just said it wrong and it came out wrong because I was agitated.
"But I apologize and I move on. But we need everybody to be behind these guys. They are going to play as hard as they can play."
It doesn't get easier for the Lakers: They host LeBron James and the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat on Christmas. The Lakers did get some good news – point guard Jordan Farmar will be in the starting lineup against Miami after recovering fully from a hamstring injury.
"Tomorrow is a game where we obviously get the champs in here and you do what you can," D'Antoni said. "But we need to start winning games and we need to win it any way we can."
