体坛英语新闻：D'Antoni appointed to coach Lakers

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Mike D'Antoni was appointed to coach the Los Angeles Lakers after the NBA team fired Mike Brown last Friday, the Lakers' spokesman John Black announced Monday.

Lakers are due to hold a press conference to announce the deal either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash have both supported the appointment, according to the Lakers' website on Monday.

Nash played for D'Antoni in Phoenix when the point guard won consecutive Most Valuable Player awards in 2005 and 2006, and Bryant worked with D'Antoni this summer when the coach was an assistant on the US Olympic team staff.

Brown was fired after the Lakers 1-4 start to the season. Under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff they have since won two games.

A Lakers statement said owner Jerry Buss, executive vice president Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak "were unanimous that D'Antoni was the best coach for the team at this time."

The Los Angeles Times reported that Bickerstaff would remain in that role until D'Antoni takes over, possibly within a week or two. D'Antoni is recovering from knee replacement surgery.

D'Antoni has previously been the head coach for Denver, Phoenix and most recently the New York Knicks. He resigned as Knicks head coach last March with the team just 18-24, and was 121-167 in nearly four full seasons with New York.