the Lakers. Phil Jackson was "asking for the moon," accoring to source familiar w/ the situation. This is not going to be loved by Lakers fans, who had chanted "we want Phil" during the Lakers win over the Kings Sunday. The fan base seemed to have their hearts set on Jackson, while D'Antoni does not have rings or a reputation as a defensive guru. D'Antoni is a 10-year head coach in the NBA who, combined with current Lakers point guard Steve Nash, ran one of the most potent offenses the NBA had ever seen with his "seven seconds or less" system. In New York with the Knicks he tried to implement that same system but the roster never really fit it, particularly once Carmelo Anthony arrived and was a ball stopper on the wing. Plus, the Knicks never defended for him (at least before Mike Woodson arrived). The Lakers roster is older, slower and D'Antoni is going to have to modify his system some to make it work. But he has Nash and a potentially devastating pick-and-roll partner in Dwight Howard . Plus there is Kobe Bryant , who is a big fan of D'Antoni (remember Kobe lived in Italy in his youth when D'Antoni was the biggest star in the Italian league). Kobe said after the Lakers game Sunday he had told management he would be happy with D'Antoni, and reaffirmed that later to the media. He better, D'Antoni is the Lakers coach now no matter what Kobe thinks.