Former NBA head coach Mike D'Antoni, the architect of the infamous "7 seconds or less" basketball pace, is reportedly set on coming back to the league as an associate head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported the development, saying that Philadelphia's new Chairman of Basketball Operations Jerry Colangelo might have influenced the move on D'Antoni as the two have had a good relationship running USA Basketball as director and assistant coach respectively.

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The 64-year-old 2005 NBA Coach of the Year awardee is also with Colangelo during his Suns glory days in the mid-2000s.

The Sixers have hired Colangelo on December 7 as their new chairman and it seems that the 76-year-old basketball executive is keen on turning things around for the hapless squad as soon as possible.

Philadelphia is at the bottom of the NBA standings with a 1-24 record at the moment and is also currently on a six-game losing skid.

Despite the struggles he had during his most recent stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, D'Antoni is a proven NBA caliber coach, amassing a 455-426 win-loss record in his 12 seasons as chief bench tactician with the Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, and New York Knicks, as per Bleacher Report.

D'Antoni guided his teams six times in the playoffs during those 12 seasons with the best years coming in 2005 to 2006 when the Suns reached the Western Conference Finals for two straight years. Phoenix was eliminated by San Antonio in '05, 4-1, while Dallas beat them 4-2 in '06.

Basketball Insiders' Alex Kennedy reported that the D'Antoni speculation "is no longer just a rumor" as the "76ers have confirmed that talks with D'Antoni have been ongoing for quite some time and that he could be joining head coach Brett Brown's staff at some point soon".

Moreover, there were ongoing rumors that the league itself was behind Colangelo's hiring "presumably to stop the tanking, push the team ahead and make the franchise more successful (and profitable)", which may put GM Sam Hinkie's job at risk.

With Colangelo and D'Antoni now at the Sixers' helm, will the proposed trade between second overall pick D'Angelo Russell and third overall pick Jahlil Okafor finally push through? It should be noted that the latter is an expert at developing pass-first, ball-dominant point guards into top-level floor generals.

TagsNBA rumors, NBA Rumors 2015, NBA news, NBA News 2015, NBA News & Rumors, NBA News & Rumors 2015, philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia 76ers news, Mike D'Antoni, Jerry Colangelo