Rockets Coach Mike D’Antoni and His Stunning Model Wife Share the Thanksgiving Love

Whether he was coaching the New York Knicks or the Phoenix Suns or now with the Houston Rockets, head coach Mike D’Antoni and his civic-minded wife, Laurel, have taken an interest in their community. With the stunning former model Laurel at the helm of their community involvement, the emphasis has been on literacy with the coach’s wife enlisting the Rockets Women’s Organization to join her in various programs.

Shortly after arriving in Houston, Laurel aligned her community interests with the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, only to expand the blanket of largesse. Two days before Thanksgiving, the D’Antonis along with Clutch, several Rockets Power Dancers and members of the coaching staff spent the early evening at the Corder Place Apartments, a transitional living shelter, serving a Thanksgiving repast to families served by Homemade Hope.

That non-profit provides hands-on cooking classes for children living in shelters throughout the city. On this evening, some 200 children and their families gathered to be served turkey and dressing by the mighty Rockets staff.

“On behalf of our Houston Rockets coaching staff, we want to give thanks to Homemade Hope, which uses the power of nutrition and food preparation to teach life skills and confidence to Houston’s homeless and transitional families,” the D’Antonis said in a joint statement. “After the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey, there is a great need to provide basic necessities to our most vulnerable families who lost their homes. We are looking forward to sharing turkey and all the Thanksgiving fixings with these families.”

Joining in the effort were Homemade Hope executive director Blair Bentley; associate head coach Jeff Bzdelik and wife Nina; assistant coach Roy Rogers and wife Patricia, assistant coach Brett Gunning, director of technology John Cho; video coordinators Devan Blair and Ellie Branson; and assistant video coordinator Saagar Sarin.