Mike D'Antoni was named the NBA's Coach of the Year twice -- a dozen years apart with different teams. His system fueled two of his players, Steve Nash and James Harden, to combine for three MVPs. D'Antoni's 672 career wins ranks in the NBA's top 25. He was an assistant coach for USA Basketball and won two gold medals.
Still, D'Antoni knows he is entering into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend not because of his coaching accomplishments but for his philosophical infusion into the sport as a contributor to the game.
The high-octane offense that he brought with him from Italy and that surged through the Phoenix Suns franchise in the early 2000s inspired Jack McCallum's classic sports book ":07 Seconds or Less."
The phrase, which was D'Antoni's directive to those Suns teams to attempt a field goal in the first ticks of the 24-second shot clock before the defense could settle in, became synonymous with the skilled, floor-spaced game that replaced the post-up battles of the 1980s and isolation-heavy possessions of the 1990s.
And the phrase became the two-time Italian League championship-winning coach's calling card when he came back to the NBA nearly 30 years after his playing career was limited to just two games with the San Antonio Spurs.
"That's the reason why I'm getting in the Hall of Fame," D'Antoni told ESPN.