76ers hire Mike D'Antoni as associate head coach

PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Philadelphia 76ers hired Mike D'Antoni as associate head coach Friday.

D'Antoni's hiring follows the team's recent decision addition of Jerry Colangelo as chairman of basketball operations and a decision to extend head coach Brett Brown's contract two years.

The 76ers took an NBA-worst 1-26 record into their home game Friday night against New York.

D'Antoni was the head coach of the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. He has ties to Colangelo from their time in Phoenix, where Colangelo was the Suns' owner.

The 64-year-old D'Antoni has been out of the NBA since stepping down from the Lakers after the 2013-14 season.