Mike D'Antoni had his introductory press conference as the new head coach of the New York Knicks today and already had to deny his first rumor.  No, it wasn't about whether he claims to have the greatest moustache in NBA Coaching history, rather about whether he in fact was already lobbying the team to trade Stephon Marbury.

D'antoni later denied wanting to trade Marbury, which is perhaps the worst denial ever.  When you are just starting as a coach, why would you want to compromise your credibility by basically saying you don't want to trade Marbury.  Sure, you are preventing Marbury from becoming sullen but weigh that against the angry fan base.  D'Antoni should have been the one initiating the rumor instead of denying it because after all, Marbury is terrible.

Mike also had to deal with his new GM Donnie Walsh mispronouncing his last name.  I would think if you are shelling out $24 million for a coach, you would have done enough research to be able to pronounce his name.  Maybe whatever Isiah Thomas has is contagious.

D'Antoni ultimately left Phoenix because he didn't feel supported by GM Steve Kerr and believed they had different basketball philosophies.  He wanted to coach with a completely supportive GM and do things only his way.  This only works if you win titles, not only win in the regular season.  D'Antoni bristled at such suggestions from Kerr that he spend 10-15 minutes practicing defense, decrease Nash's workload and develop his bench.  Apparently, these logical, rational suggestions proved to be far too harsh for D'Antoni.  Getting obvious suggestions from his GM proved to cause a poisonous work environment for D'Antoni.  How's that for thick skin?

And thick skin is exactly what he is going to need to succeed in New York.  With thousands of people believing they are GM's, D'Antoni will at some point long for the days of a suffocating work environment with Steve Kerr looming, demanding such unreasonable adjustments for a team that achieved 4 consecutive playoff failures.