Mike D'Antoni was still in the Phoenix area when he agreed in principle to be the head coach of the New York Knicks in 2008. The club needed him in New York to prepare for an introductory news conference, so they sent a plane. The plane.
The Knicks flew D'Antoni to New York on a Gulfstream IV, which is generally valued at more than $10 million. They landed at a small airport in Farmingdale, New York. Thirty feet away, a private helicopter awaited D'Antoni, his assistant Phil Weber and others.