Mike D’Antoni never made the Knicks practice any defensive drills when he was their head coach: "We literally never did anything for defense"

Mike D’Antoni is widely regarded as one of the most innovative offensive coaches in NBA history. However, most agree that his tendency to overlook the defensive end of the court has held him back from winning an NBA championship.

D’Antoni has come close a couple of times, making three conference finals appearances with Phoenix and Houston, but has yet to make an NBA Finals appearance. In addition, the veteran coach has also had a couple of disappointing stops throughout his coaching career, including his three-and-a-half-year tenure in New York.

According to former Knicks forward Al Harrington, D’Antoni was unsuccessful in New York because he didn’t teach the Knicks any defensive schemes at all:

“I just felt like we could have been a better team if we attempted to play defense,” Harrington said during a recent appearance on the “Bootleg Kev” podcast.

“We literally never did anything for defense, like, nothing. Never practiced a rotation, like, nothing. How do you expect us to win if we can’t defend?”

Harrington added that he and his teammate Larry Hughes once asked D’Antoni why he neglected the defense. According to Harrington, D’Antoni then berated them, leading Harrington to lose respect for his coach:

“Me and Larry went to him before practice one day and we were like, ‘Yo, coach, listen, we understand defense isn’t a priority, but we’re all willing to come in 30 minutes before practice (to work on defense),’” Harrington said.

“We wanted to f**king win, bro. We’re the Knicks man, we’re in New York, bro. And he got all upset and offensive and was like, ‘You think it’s defense? You think defense is the problem?’"

“We’re like, ‘Yes, we can’t defend anybody. We don’t know rotations, we don’t communicate. Yes.’ And he got all pissed off and, you know, that just really frustrated me, and it just made me not like him as much as a coach.”

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How did the Knicks fare during Mike D’Antoni's time in New York?

Former New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni

As for how the New York Knicks fared during Mike D’Antoni’s tenure with the team, they struggled mightily over his first two seasons. The team, led by Al Harrington, went just 32-50 (14th in the Eastern Conference) during the 2008-09 season. They then followed that up with an even worse 29-53 record during the 2009-10 season (11th in the East).

D’Antoni later led the Knicks to their lone playoff appearance during the 2010-11 season (42-40, sixth in the East). He did so behind stars Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. However, New York was swept in the first round of the 2011 NBA playoffs by the Boston Celtics. The following season (2011-12), D’Antoni resigned as coach of the Knicks amid their disappointing 18-24 start and rumors that he was butting heads with Anthony.

In total, D’Antoni finished with a coaching record of 121-167 in New York, marking a blemish on his 672-527 career coaching record.