Mike D'Antoni has stepped down as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

D'Antoni was hired in November of 2012 to replace Mike Brown as the Buss Family chose him over Phil Jackson.

Dwight Howard did not enjoy playing for D'Antoni and his presence played a role in his departure in free agency, while he also seemed to lose the support of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol in 13-14.

D'Antoni was under contract for the 14-15 season and the Lakers held an option on his deal for 15-16 that he attempted to get the team to pick up.

"We've hit an insurmountable impasse and Mike will no longer be the Laker coach," agent Warren LeGarie told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

“Given the circumstances, I don’t know that anybody could have done a better job than Mike did the past two seasons,” said Mitch Kupchak in a release announcing the move. “On behalf of the Lakers, we thank Mike for the work ethic, professionalism and positive attitude that he brought to the team every day. We wish him the best of luck.”

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Lakers likely will "hire for (a) high-salaried big-name NBA guy or NBA assistant with upside."

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that both Kobe Bryant and Lakers' management are known to be fond of Ettore Messina.

The Golden State Warriors haven't made a final decision on the future of Mark Jackson, but the beginning of issues was when Joe Lacob engaged in brief extension talks with Jackson's agent last offseason.

Lacob raised the issue of Jackson at least establishing a partial residence in the Bay Area. Jackson remains largely based in Southern California.

Jackson is under contract for one more season and has generally done a good job with what had been a disappointing run of seasons since the 2007 NBA Playoffs.

Jackson is beloved by most players on the roster and respected by the front office, but he also has been a target for fans and sometimes for Warriors' executives.

Fred Hoiberg and Steve Kerr are at the top of the Warriors' hypothetical short list should they decide to part ways with Jackson.

Stan Van Gundy will not have interest in the Minnesota Timberwolves head coaching job, according to a source.

Van Gundy was reportedly a candidate for the open position.

Van Gundy has a career regular season record of 334-179 with the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.

Tom izzo said he will return to coach Michigan State despite reportedly being a candidate for the coach openings of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons.

"First of all, I'm going to be at Michigan State,'' Izzo said Wednesday. "I still listen to things every day in our town about Nick Saban saying I'm not going to be the Alabama coach [when Saban was coach of the Miami Dolphins].

"Nobody knows where any of us are going to be. You have to look at your track record and, over all these years, is this what he's done?"

The Spartans lost in the Elite Eight last season to Connecticut.

"If somebody made me an offer to be the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers that was so good that it would impress everybody, does that mean I would never say never?" Izzo said. "I'm not doing that anymore. I've seen too many people get stung that way.

"Put it this way: I've got a big-time recruit coming in an hour and if I was leaving I wouldn't be recruiting.''

CHICAGO – After revitalizing his career and competing for a deep playoff run, D.J. Augustin hugged most Bulls staff members on his walk out of the United Center on Tuesday night. The Toronto Raptors had deposed of him in December, but Augustin served as the Bulls’ season savior and averaged 14.9 points and five assists in 61 games for the organization.

Augustin will become an unrestricted free agent in July, almost assuredly worthy of commanding a multi-year deal.

The Bulls maintain strong interest in re-signing Augustin, and the 6-foot guard made clear that he’ll place substantial value in his ability to fit in Tom Thibodeau’s system and the Chicago locker room.

“I’m hoping everything works out and I’m back here,” Augustin told RealGM. “I’m excited. No matter what happened recently, we still have a lot to build on. People didn’t expect us to be where we were, so going into next season is exciting.

“It was big coming here and finding a home on a team full of great players. It’s like a family, and just having a chance to play and get an opportunity was big for me.”

The Chicago Bulls signed Lou Amundson, Ronnie Brewer and Mike James late in the season in what was perceived by many in the NBA as a signal of a possible trade this offseason.

The combined, non-guaranteed salary of those three players for next season gives the Bulls $4.07 million that could be used as a trade chip for a player like Carmelo Anthony.

The New York Knicks are considered the favorites to re-sign Anthony, but the Bulls are expected to pursue him and this could make a deal involving the two teams more viable.

The Chicago Bulls will do everything within their power to trade Carlos Boozer before they seriously consider using their amnesty provision on the final season of his contract.

The Bulls have until July 16 to amnesty Boozer this offseason.

Because the Bulls will have to pay Boozer's salary, the only incentive for amnestying him will be for cap space.

The Golden State Warriors planned on walking off the floor after tip-off in Game 5 if Adam Silver not banned Los Angeles Clippers' owner Donald Sterling for life.

“It would have been our only chance to make a statement in front of the biggest audience that we weren’t going to accept anything but the maximum punishment,” Stephen Curry said. “We would deal with the consequences later but we were not going to play.”

The Warriors’ players wanted to protest previously, but decided to give Silver a chance to do the right thing. 

Curry, David Lee, Andre Iguodala and Jermaine O’Neal were behind the boycott idea. 

The idea included plans to reach out to the Clippers' players, hoping they would join them.

Mark Jackson has asked the Golden State Warriors' front office that Jerry West not attend most practice and team activities, according to sources.

West is a high-level adviser for the Warriors.

The Charlotte Bobcats will target Arron Afflalo and Jameer Nelson in a potential trade.

Steve Clifford is believed to be fond of Afflalo and Nelson.

Nelson, 32, is entering the final season of his contract at $8 million, but only $2 million of that is guaranteed if Nelson is waived by July 15.

Afflalo, 28, is due to earn $7.5 million next season and has a player option for 2015-16, also valued at $7.5 million.