When Mike D'Antoni surveys the current state of the NBA, he must feel like a proud papa — but one whose progeny are trying to destroy him.
More than a decade ago, the sultan of seven seconds or less sought to revolutionize professional basketball. He joined forces with a slight Canadian suffering from a back injury to execute his vision of free-flowing, positionless basketball, where teams played their best five players at any given moment, regardless of the strictures of tradition.
Such disdain for dogma wasn't exactly new a decade ago; teams had dabbled with small ball here and there for as long as there had been an NBA.