Surprised that Phil Jackson did not return to the Los Angeles Lakers as head coach, All-Star guard Kobe Bryant said Tuesday that he was excited about the prospect of playing under new coach Mike D'Antoni.

"We were all thinking it was gonna be Phil," Bryant told reporters after taking part in a Lakers shoot-around. "It probably caught Mike a little bit off guard, too. But I'm excited. I spoke to Mike (on the phone) this morning. It was great. It was really short, just 'hello'."

Bryant said he was a huge fan of D'Antoni's basketball play in Italy where he grew up, and that he later got to know him well when D'Antoni was an assistant coach on the U.S. national team, according to Reuters, 

"We have a great relationship," said Bryant. "The offense that he installed for our USA team was the offense that we ran to the tune of two (Olympic) gold medals."

The news comes after the Lakers shocked the basketball world on Monday by naming former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks coach D'Antoni as head coach, replacing Mike Brown.

"We all know the type of talent that we had on that team, so it was important for us to have an offense that was flexible, that was open and that kept everybody involved. It worked pretty well for us," Bryant added.  "I've obviously played against his teams for a number of years and I know his philosophy. I know how competitive he is. He's a feisty, feisty dude...I like that."

D'Antoni had a 388-339 record as head coach of the Denver Nuggets, the Suns and the Knicks, achieving his greatest success in Phoenix where he coached the team into the Western Conference finals twice.

"It's not like he takes the same thing that he did in Phoenix and incorporates that here. He has different personnel," said Bryant. "He can use Steve (Nash) to his greatest advantages and me to mine and Dwight (Howard) to his and Paul (Gasol) to his and so on and so forth. It's really about spacing and reading. It shouldn't be too hard."

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