Mitch Kupchak gave Mike D'Antoni a vote of confidence on Wednesday and stood by the Los Angeles Lakers' coach amid a rough stretch.

“We’re happy with Mike,” Kupchak said. “You can look back six weeks ago and say it’s exciting and we’re playing great. It’s hard to ignore the injuries but it was a fun game to watch when we were playing without Kobe [Bryant] and anticipating his return. In other words, ‘Wow, we’re playing this well now and Kobe has still yet to return and neither has [Steve] Nash?’ So we had high hopes."

Kupchak did not discuss the chances of Pau Gasol remaining with the Lakers beyond the February trade deadline.

“My job is to be the caretaker of this team for this year and going forward,” Kupchak said. “And every move we make, depending upon the makeup of the team and your record at the time, has to be done with vision.

“I don’t know where we’re going to be six weeks from now and certainly we’re going through a very rough time right now but we’re going to monitor the team closely and look for opportunities to help the team either in the short run or the long term.”