Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni not worried about being on the hot seat

By Vincent Frank

·Updated: October 24, 2019

The Houston Rockets will open their 2019-20 season against the Milwaukee Bucks at home on Thursday.

It’s a huge initial game for the reacquainted backcourt tandem of Russell Westbrook and James Harden. It also comes with championship aspirations in Houston and head coach Mike D’Antoni entering a contract year.

Given his laid back mentality, it can’t be a surprise that D’Antoni is not concerned about being on the hot seat.

Mike D'Antoni on if he was on the hot seat going into the last year of his contract:

"You tell me what coach in the NBA is not on the hot street. They're all on the hot seat. You're always on it. That's life. It doesn't affect me."
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) October 24, 2019

To be fair to the long time head coach, he’s faced the pressure of championship contention in each of his first three seasons as the Rockets’ lead guy.

D’Antoni has posted a tremendous 173-73 record during that span, leading Houston to the Western Conference Finals in 2017-18 and the conference semifinals last season — losing to the Warriors each year.

The good news for D’Antoni and his Rockets is that the Western Conference seems to be wide open this season.

We’ll see soon enough of the team’s MVP pair in the backcourt will be enough to overcome the plethora of teams vying for a title. If not, D’Antoni could very well be done in Houston after four seasons.