Pau Gasol got home from the game and read about it on Twitter, while Dwight Howard got a midnight message on his BlackBerry. They shared most Los Angeles Lakers fans' mix of surprise, trepidation and anticipation. Just when everybody thought the Lakers were getting back together with Phil Jackson, they switched course in the middle of the night and went with Mike D'Antoni. What a weekend in Hollywood - and the real drama isn't over yet. The Lakers reacted with ample excitement and a little bewilderment Monday to their front office's surprising decision to hire D'Antoni as coach Mike Brown's replacement over Jackson, the 11-time champion who discussed the job at his home Saturday and apparently wanted to return. D'Antoni didn't even interview for the job in person, speaking to the Lakers over the phone. ''It has been crazy, but all this stuff will just make this team stronger,'' said Howard, who has been in a Lakers uniform for about six weeks. ''Everything that we've been through so far, it's going to make us stronger, and we have to look at this as a positive situation.'' The Lakers' third coach in four days won't take over the team until later in the week. D'Antoni still hadn't been cleared to travel Monday after undergoing knee replacement surgery earlier in the month, although the Lakers are optimistic the former Knicks and Suns coach will arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Just 24 hours after Jackson seemed headed back to his oversized chair on the Staples Center bench, D'Antoni had the job. It's too soon to tell how the Buss family's latest counterintuitive move will sit with Lakers fans, who chanted ''We want Phil!'' during the club's weekend games, both victories after a 1-4 start. ''I think everybody had expectations about it, and they were all pretty high,'' Gasol said of Jackson's potential return. ''We all understood what Phil brings to the table ... and what he means to the city and the franchise. It just couldn't work out for whatever reason.'' Jackson issued a statement to a handful of media outlets Monday, implying he was essentially offered the job after meeting with Lakers owner Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak. Jackson thought he would be able to come back to the Lakers on Monday with his decision, but instead was awakened by a midnight phone call from Kupchak. Jackson's flirtation with the job is the strongest indication yet that he's interested in coaching again, which makes him a prime candidate for another franchise. Yet D'Antoni also received praise around the league - even from New York, where he resigned last March after failing to win a playoff game in four years with the Knicks.
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