LOS ANGELES -- After the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Houston Rockets 99-95 in overtime to clinch the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak confirmed that head coach Mike D'Antoni will return next season.

"I think under the circumstances, Mike did a great job. We don't anticipate any kind of a change," Kupchak told ESPNLosAngeles.com.

"No training camp, all the injuries, through the end of the season he's done a great job."

D'Antoni took the job under rather remarkable circumstances this November. The Lakers fired Mike Brown just five games into the season, then interviewed three coaches in a 48-hour period before choosing D'Antoni, who was still recovering from knee replacement surgery.

One of those other coaches was, of course, former Lakers coach Phil Jackson. And the specter of the 11-time NBA champion coach, and the road not taken, has hung over the Lakers franchise all season.