Steve Kerr Knicks Coach? Former Sharpshooter Now Has More Job Options! Did Phil Jackson Offer Too Early? Will Kerr Say ‘No’ To His Mentor?
Steve Kerr learned a lot from Phil Jackson being his protégé. Apparently, he also learned a lot of things from other sources, specifically the art of negotiation.
After all, Steve Kerr already serves as a GM for Phoenix. He surprisingly played the waiting game with his mentor, Phil Jackson. Who would not want to work under the Zen Master?
This time, it's not a player-coach relationship. This is a first time executive hiring a first time coach in a reversal of roles. Kerr might not have been a popular candidate before, but ironically, it seems like Kerr is using Phil's vote of confidence as leverage against him-perhaps inadvertently.
From the NY Daily News: "Steve Kerr is now the top candidate for three high-profile jobs, with the Golden State Warriors joining the Lakers as formidable competition for Phil Jackson and the Knicks.
According to a league source, Warriors owner Joe Lacob wants to hire Kerr to replace Mark Jackson, who was fired on Tuesday following three successful seasons as Golden State's head coach. In fact, the Warriors wasted no time reaching out to Kerr, contacting him less than three hours after Jackson was dismissed. And a source maintains that the Warriors' job is Kerr's if he wants it.
The Knicks are still in play, but it is telling that Kerr - who met with Jackson 11 days ago in New York - has not made a decision, and that by delaying, two attractive jobs have become available."
Make that four. Quoting a report from ESPN, CBS wrote this assessment:
"The Utah Jazz are also trying to 'wedge their way into the race.' With their abundance of young talent and another high draft pick arriving in time for next season, they would actually make some sense, but there has not yet been any indication that Kerr is thinking about Utah."
There are still a lot of high profile coaches out there-Mark Jackson actually adds one more. But an entire season has passed and names like George Karl and Lionel Hollins are still not on an NBA bench.
Are NBA teams looking for young, new coaches in favor of experience? That's quite a risk, but even the Lakers are doing it. Perhaps they were inspired by Jeff Hornacek of Phoenix. While Gregg Popovich, the embodiment of old school himself still won Coach of the Year, the Suns' improbable turnaround are the league's biggest surprise. Now everyone wants to emulate that.
No matter what reason, it worked heavily on Kerr's favor. The details of the offer were not disclosed but apparently, it was not enough to make Steve Kerr sign. Most observers believe that despite taking the scenic route, Kerr will still end up in Madison Square Garden.