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 Phoenix¹ when the point guard won consecutive² 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 interim³ coach Bernie Bickerstaff they have since won two games.

A Lakers statement said owner Jerry Buss, executive vice⁴ 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 replacement⁵ surgery.

D'Antoni has previously⁶ 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.

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

3 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

6 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。