Coach Mike D’Antoni answers questions at Shepherd’s Center of Lewisburg

By Dakota Baker, RealWV

LEWISBURG, W.Va. – Former NBA/ABA player and Coach Mike D’Antoni visited the Shepherd’s Center in the Greenbrier Valley on May 15th. Following his career at Marshall University, D’Antoni was drafted by the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the second round of the NBA draft and by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the ABA Draft. After playing in the NBA and ABA for four seasons, D’Antoni continued his professional career in Italy, where he became the all-time leading scorer for Olympia Milano and, in 1990, was named the best point guard in league history. When his playing career ended, D’Antoni transitioned to coaching, winning several championships in Europe. He then returned to the United States and began coaching in the NBA, serving as head coach for the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers from 1998 to 2014, and since 2016 with the Houston Rockets. 

D’Antoni spoke about growing up in Mullens, WV, stating, “It was the best,” and that the Mullens community was similar to the community of Lewisburg, as everyone sticks together. He spoke about how people ask him where he gets his ideas for basketball, and he said, “It’s really just an accumulation of experiences that you have through your life, and that started in Mullens. My dad was a coach, my brother played, we had some unbelievable high school basketball players that were better than me at the time, and when you’re down here (he motioned to set a low bar with one hand has the other hand raised to pass the low bar), you try to pass ’em.” D’Antoni says he could not have had a better upbringing. 

D’Antoni was asked how he ended up at Marshall University after high school. He explained that he had narrowed his choices down to West Virginia University (WVU), Marshall, Davidson, and Duke. Growing up, he was a huge WVU fan, mentioning that Jerry West and Rod Thorn were his heroes. For years, he didn’t even know Marshall University existed. Then, when his brother graduated from high school and WVU did not recruit him, D’Antoni went from loving WVU to being unable to stand WVU, and then Marshall recruited him, and he could not reignite his loyalty to WVU. 

D’Antoni was asked if he ever got to play against his idol, Jerry West. He said in Kansas City, the first game he ever started, his assignment was to guard Jerry West. He said he would never forget the pre-game speech by his coach; he said his coach looked at him and said, “Okay Mike, you got Jerry, and he can only go right, he cannot go left at all, but no one has ever stopped him from going right and I know you’re not gonna stop him either”. D’Antoni also reminisced on another game he played with Jerry West when West was near the end of his career. He said West hadn’t played for 13 games before, and West went through the first half of the game and didn’t make a single shot, and then he didn’t play the whole second half. With just three seconds left in the game and D’Antoni’s team leading by one point, they put Jerry West back in. D’Antoni recalls his coach telling the other players not to let West get the ball. D’Antoni said West almost immediately got the ball, took a shot, and started running down the court laughing before the ball even made it into the basket. 

D’Antoni was then asked how he made it to Italy, and he spoke of how, at that point in his life, he was done with basketball. They had a restaurant business in South Carolina, so he went down and worked there, taking that time to figure out what he wanted to do. He said he then realized working was not as exciting as he thought it would be. So, after a few months of working, a team from Italy calls him out of the blue, and they wanted him to come spend Easter week down there and see what he thought about it. He went, and they offered him a two-year contract. He thought it would be a great opportunity to see Europe and not have to work in the restaurant. D’Antoni said it was a great basketball experience, and it allowed him to grow as a person culturally. 

D’Antoni discussed a team he coached during the Croatian-Serbian war, and he had a Serbian and a Croatian on his team. He mentioned that one time they had to go to Croatia to play a game, and the Serbian player had to have a bodyguard the entire time. While the Serbian player was warming up, the Croatians were underneath the basketball net making throat-slicing motions with their hands.

D’Antoni’s wife, Laurel, also spoke at the event about the people of West Virginia and our tight-knit community, describing firsthand how our community comes together to support one another. This was particularly evident during the 2016 flood, when she had to be rescued via boat. This is why she always found it so necessary to use their platform in basketball to support non-profit organizations such as the Shepherd’s Center. 

D’Antoni participated in a Q&A session with the crowd at the end of the event, where he was asked questions such as whether he ever played against the Blue Demons of Northfork High School. Mike jokingly reminded the crowd that this was after his time, and they would have never had that success if he were there. He was also asked if he ever had any interactions with Michael Jordan, to which he responded that he did during the first game he ever coached in Italy, an exhibition game, where Jordan played on his team. 

This event was hosted by the Shepherd’s Center of Greenbrier County, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting older adults to live independently by providing opportunities for lifelong learning, community service, caring relationships, and spiritual growth.

For more information about the Shepherd’s Center of Greenbrier Valley, please visit their website at scgvwv.org or call (304) 645-4196.