With Comparison to Phil Jackson, Mike D'Antoni Poised to Validate Lakers" Choice In 2006, D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns ousted Jackson's Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game playoff series. A year later, Phoenix triumphed again, in five games, while D'Antoni and Jackson sniped at each other across the hardwood. Back then, the Suns were ascendant and the Lakers were in an awkward transition phase known as the Smush Parker Era. It was a moment in time, one Lakers fans would just as soon forget. But Jackson was soon collecting championships again while D'Antoni was mired in basketball purgatory in New York, subjecting himself to payroll purges, front-office meddling and Nate Robinson. So when the two coaches" paths crossed again, strangely, unpredictably, in the Lakers" very public coaching search, D'Antoni expected the same outcome as everyone else. "Phil Jackson, my gosh, he's only got 11 rings, and one of the greatest coaches ever," D'Antoni said Tuesday, two days after the Lakers chose him over Jackson. Yeah, I was surprised. But also at the same time excited about the possibilities. It is all about the possibilities now - for a star-stocked lineup in search of cohesion, for a proud franchise trying to extend an era, while simultaneously breaking with its recent past, and for a 61-year-old coaching contrarian seeking the ultimate career validation. The Lakers needed a coach who could blend the talents of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, one who could put them in championship contention, immediately, before Bryant's stubble turned gray. Defying all expectations and résumé comparisons, the Lakers chose D'Antoni. Team officials felt D'Antoni's pick-and-roll heavy system was the best fit for its stars, Nash and Howard in particular. Now D'Antoni has to validate the faith, while coaching before a crowd that just days ago was chanting, "We want Phil!" Oh, and he also has to win a championship or be deemed a failure. Given where he has been for the last four years, D'Antoni will happily take the pressure, the unfair comparisons and the ghost of Jackson. "If your expectations are way up there and you don't have the team, then you're doomed," D'Antoni said by telephone. The expectations are where they are because this team is built to win a championship. He added: "I like my chances. I like the guys we have. D'Antoni will arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday, meet reporters on Thursday and be in the arena Friday night when the Lakers host - of all teams - the Suns. But his debut on the bench will not come until Sunday, at the earliest. D'Antoni had knee surgery Oct. 31 and is still walking with a cane or crutches. He has weeks of physical therapy ahead of him. He said he was aiming to coach his first game Sunday, against the Houston Rockets, presenting another intriguing reunion - with Jeremy Lin, the Harvard graduate who blossomed into a star under D'Antoni last season. Physically, D'Antoni said he should be fine, but added with a chuckle, "I'll probably be a little more calmer to start with than I normally am." The truth is, D'Antoni never expected to be back on the bench so soon. After losing a battle of wills with Carmelo Anthony and walking away from the Knicks in March, D'Antoni planned to take a year off, to let his son Michael graduate from high school before moving again. He had the knee surgery believing he had months to recover. Then the Lakers called. "Probably the Lakers are the only team that could make me do this, this early," said D'Antoni, who added that he had the blessing of his son and his wife, Laurel. Seven years ago, D'Antoni was hailed as an innovator, even a genius, after reviving the Suns with a fast-breaking, ball-moving, 3-point-shooting, never-a-dull-moment offense that dazzled fans. The Suns, powered by Nash, made the Western Conference finals twice and averaged 58 wins over four years. They were the darlings of the N.B.A. They also lost to the San Antonio Spurs in three postseasons, played marginal defense and never made the N.B.A. finals.