Mike D’Antoni effectively retired from active coaching five years ago. His last stint was as an assistant for the Brooklyn Nets in 2021. He served as an advisor to the New Orleans Pelicans until 2025, and he hasn’t set foot on NBA hardwood since leaving the organization.
He’s now being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2026. D’Antoni will most likely be joined by his wife, Laurel, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Who Is Mike D’Antoni’s Wife, Laurel D’Antoni?
Laurel and Mike met outside the United States, in Milan, Italy, back in 1984. At the time, she was a runway fashion model while D’Antoni was playing professional basketball for Olimpia Milano.
They were introduced to one another by a mutual friend who was dating D’Antoni’s teammate at the time, Wally Walker.
Their first time out together was when they went out with a group of friends. Laurel told the New York Post, “We all went out for pizza as a group. You have a connection with anyone who speaks English. But we hit it off. He’s an easy guy to fall in love with.”
Their first date took place when D’Antoni invited her to watch one of his basketball games. She initially thought she’d been invited to a YMCA pickup game.
So, when she entered an arena with tens of thousands of fans jumping out of their seats, she was completely floored. “In the NBA, basketball is entertainment. In Italy, it’s warfare. The fans hate the other city’s team.”
Sparks flew instantaneously, and the two got married within a couple of years. They wed on June 21, 1986. After 17 years in Milan, Laurel moved back to the United States when D’Antoni got a head coaching job in the league.
Laurel would transition out of the fashion industry and become a founding member of the Houston Rockets Women’s Organization. Their goal is to work with families of the Rockets basketball operations department and help integrate them into the city of Houston.
“The best thing – and he’s tried to do this for me and my son as well – he just gives you so much confidence. He’s so even keel,” Laurel once said about her husband.
Laurel is described as a ‘philanthropist’ on the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce’s website. She is passionate about literacy and charity work, frequently taking part in community outreach events.
Over the course of their 42 years together, they share one child, Mike D’Antoni Jr.
