Mike D’Antoni came out on top over Rick Adelman in the SB Nation Reacts results, and the margin was wide enough to make the outcome feel decisive without turning it into a full-on landslide.
Before getting into the basketball, there was one image-related point that had to be made: the best photos of Hall of Fame coach Mike D’Antoni usually feature the mustache. Call it a Mike D’Antoni Mustache Mandate.
On the merits, the vote makes sense. D’Antoni’s Houston teams delivered the franchise’s best regular-season mark at 65 wins, while Adelman’s high-water mark with the Rockets was 55.
That 10-win gap matters. Even if someone wants to weigh postseason results more heavily, D’Antoni still has the edge there, with his teams getting to the Western Conference Finals in a series many still remember painfully - including D’Antoni himself, as he recently noted in an interview.
If championships are the only standard, then the answer is Rudy T and nobody else.
Adelman was no slouch. He’s in the Hall of Fame for a reason, and his motion offense could be brilliant when it clicked.
It was also a useful system for getting more out of limited talent. But D’Antoni changed the sport in a deeper way.
His impact went beyond wins and losses. He helped break the old NBA idea that fixed positions, constant post play, and size were the only road to success.
Even though D’Antoni never won the title with a team that carried his full imprint, plenty of teams have won with pieces of his philosophy, including the Warriors under Steve Kerr, one of his disciples. The old “No Jump Shooting, Small Ball, Team Can Win A Title” argument is long gone.
The comparison that fits best is Earl Weaver. Weaver was a baseball manager who understood the core logic of analytics before the movement had a name.
D’Antoni did something similar in basketball. He embraced early offense, pace, spacing, and the simple math that three is more than two.
He saw that smaller lineups could create advantages, that centers didn’t have to live under the rim, and that dragging a big man away from the basket opened the floor in ways traditional teams couldn’t always answer.
Those ideas were on full display with the Seven Seconds or Less Suns, a team that became a favorite for a lot of neutral fans. They kept rolling in Houston with James Harden, who took those concepts to what felt like an extreme at the time.
In today’s NBA, though, those offenses would look more ordinary than revolutionary. That’s how thoroughly D’Antoni’s thinking has spread.
So while Adelman deserves his praise, D’Antoni getting the nod feels right. One was an excellent coach. The other was a visionary.
In Other News...
Rockets Just Lost A Dependable Guard With A Complicated Future
Aaron Holiday is heading overseas for the upcoming season, a move that takes a steady veteran guard off the NBA board after he had drawn interest from multiple teams. Holiday spent three seasons with the Rockets, where his reliable play and calm presence made him a useful part of the backcourt rotation, and now he is set for a new stop in Italys top league.
Maxima Roma gives Holiday a chance to keep playing meaningful minutes abroad, but the door is not necessarily shut on an NBA comeback. His deal leaves open the possibility of a return later in the 2026-27 season, which is the part Houston fans and other NBA teams will be watching most closely as he begins this next chapter. [Read more 🡒]
Klay Thompson's Mavericks Exit Could Help The Rockets In A Big Way
Klay Thompsons run in Dallas appears to be ending in a way that could ripple well beyond the Mavericks. ESPN reported that Thompson is expected to land with the Miami Heat after agreeing to a contract buyout with Dallas, closing the book on a two-season stint in which he averaged 12.9 points and was due to make $17.5 million in the final year of his deal. The Mavericks confirmed the buyout and said they hold respect for Thompsons career, but the move also underscores how quickly the Wests guard picture can shift.
For Houston, any change that further complicates Dallas backcourt is worth watching closely, especially with Kyrie Irvings injury concerns and Max Christie in the starting mix. The Mavericks are suddenly dealing with more uncertainty around who will stabilize that group, and in a conference where every edge matters, that kind of instability can matter as much as any headline signing. [Read more 🡒]