The Houston Rockets will bring back Mike D'Antoni as head coach in 19-20 as he enters the final season of a four-year contract.

“Mike will be the coach next year,” Tilman Fertitta said. “He’s not a lame duck to me. That’s just a media term. That’s just a media buzzword.

“Mike is going to be 69 years old (next May) and Mike doesn’t know totally what he wants to do, yet. We’ll sit down with Mike in the next few weeks and talk with him. We’re more concerned with making our team better next year. Mike will be here. I like Mike. I think he’s a very good coach. Players like playing for him. I keep being told, free agents want to know who the owner is and they want to know who the coach is. Mike and I do well together. Hopefully, we’ll continue to win and Mike will be here for a long time.”

Fertitta was also asked if he believed D'Antoni is a championship owner.

“We don’t know. We don’t know if I’m a championship owner."