In an interview with Bleacher Report, Nate Robinson was asked to answer a bunch of interesting questions. One question that gained plenty of attention was this:
B/R: Who is the worst coach you’ve played under?
NR: Mike D’Antoni was a cool coach, but he was just a bad person. He can coach. He was just mean for no reason. He had no reason to be a certain way toward players he liked and didn’t like. As a man, you would talk to somebody if you had a problem with them. You would tell them. He never told me exactly what his problem was with me. I didn’t know how to change it. I’d talk to him every day, but he would ignore me. It was crazy.
Nate Robinson and Mike D’Antoni have had their issues. For instance, D’Antoni snapped when Robinson famously shot at the wrong basket in 2009.
D’Antoni also benched Robinson for a few games that year. According to Mark Berman of the New York Post, Nate’s pre-game antics played a role in the benching:
According to a source, the final straw in Nate Robinson’s banishment came in the hour before last Wednesday’s game in Orlando, when Mike D’Antoni caught Robinson yukking it up during the pregame with his slam-dunk contest foil, superstar center Dwight Howard.
That night, Robinson received his first DNP — the first of four straight after receiving another one last night in a 93-84 win over Portland.
According to the source, D’Antoni felt Robinson was not being serious enough during pregame preparations, fraternizing too often with opponents. The Howard incident was the backbreaker, the source said.
Robinson and D’Antoni are no strangers. The news of Robinson taking shots at Mike D’Antoni should come as a surprise to nobody.
Nate Robinson, a three-time Slam Dunk Champion, has spent most of the 2015-2016 season in the Chinese Basketball Association. Mike D’Antoni, on the other hand, remains on the NBA scene in hopes of once again becoming a head coach. He currently serves as the associate head coach with the Philadelphia 76ers.
D’Antoni was Robinson’s head coach with the New York Knicks during the 2009-2010 season. The Knicks finished that season 29-53, or one game worse than this season’s record of 32-50.
