Antawn Jamison admits Mike D'Antoni was in a tough situation last season, taking the Los Angeles Lakers' coaching job early in the season and adapting his system onto a new team.

Even so, Jamison says the line of communication was never consistent throughout the season.

"Mike was pretty much put in a difficult situation," Jamison said. "There was no training camp where he could get a feel for guys. There was a breakdown of communication when we first got there. And throughout the season it was kind of up and down.

"I don't dislike Mike. I obviously respect him as a coach. In my eyes, one of the best offensive-minded coaches in the league. I just think he was put in a tough situation ... but toward the end of the season you saw him kind of open up, and we started to have a relationship, and I kind of understood where he was coming from."

Jamison still, however, does not understand why Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard were never able to gel on and off the court.

"It was difficult," he said. "I really believed before we got started that those two could co-exist. But it just didn't work out that way. Both guys are unbelievable basketball players, the best we have in the game right now. But for whatever reason we just couldn't get that relationship as far as them communicating and them trusting each other the way you needed them to trust each other in order for us to win a championship. It just didn't happen that way."