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.