The Lakers Hired Mike D'Antoni. Immediate Reaction.

The Pringle Era has  begun in LA.

The new face of the Lakers is Mike D'Antoni. The offensive genius was chosen over the greatest coach of all time to lead this super team to what many hope to be a finals appearance. Most people woke up on this Monday morning stunned to hear that Phil Jackson was snubbed as he thought that it was "his job to turn down." However, maybe this hiring is not so shocking after all.

D'Antoni has experience with Steve Nash and ran one of the most prolific offenses while in Phoenix. Also, it seems like Phil Jackson would have been hard to have as a head coach given all the travel restrictions and limitations he tried to place on the Lakers. Furthermore, D'Antoni signed for 4 years and gives the Lakers some stability, while Jackson surely would have only stayed for two years at most. Given all of this, and with Kobe Bryant's retirement looming, the Lakers sought out a new coach that could not only lead them this year but also in the future.

The pick and roll offense will thrive in LA with Nash at the helm and Gasol and Howard cashing in. Once you combine that with the best scorer in NBA history in Kobe Bryant, and lock down defender Metta World Peace and you have the most complete starting five in the NBA. The one issue still facing LA, however, is their bench. The backup point guards are Steve Blake and Chris Duhon and the most impactful player is the aging Antawn Jamison. While Jordan Hill may have potential, he certainly isn't that game changing man off the bench that many teams look for.

Because of the lack of depth on this team the Lakers will not be able to keep up with the likes of the Thunder and Spurs in the Western Conference and ultimately the Heat and Knicks in the East. For now though there is a new found hope in the City of Angels as the team will finally have some direction.