The Warriors cut ties with Mark Jackson today, and rumors have already started swirling about potential fits for the now vacant coaching spot in Golden State. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders rounds up the situation and discusses possible candidates and also suggests a few teams that might be wise to seek out Jackson’s services. Here’s the latest on Jackson, Kerr, and the Lakers coaching search:
- Brian Scalabrine was also dismissed from Warriors, reports Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter). Scalabrine had been an assistant coach with Golden State under Jackson before a mid-season demotion sent him to their D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.
- Kerr was expected to begin talks with the Knicks about a coaching role yesterday, but there have still been no contact between the two sides, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. There’s a strong chance Kerr has a conversation with the Warriors about taking on the head coaching role in Golden State, but his preference remains New York, says Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
- The Knicks haven’t called Jackson about their head coaching position, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
- It’s very unlikely the Timberwolves have any interest in bringing Jackson aboard, passes along Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (on Twitter).
- The Pistons should consider hiring Jackson in Detroit, even though it wouldn’t be a cheap acquisition, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Goodwill points to Jackson’s ability to earn his players’ respect as a particularly valuable trait.
- Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com discusses the likelihood that Steve Kerr chooses to take on head coaching duties for the Warriors rather than the Knicks. Both teams are reportedly interested in Kerr, but Begley concludes that Phil Jackson‘s presence in New York will give the Knicks an edge in their pursuit.
- Kerr’s college coach, Lute Olson, also sees the Knicks as the front-runner to land Kerr, even after Jackson’s dismissal in Golden State, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Lakers management is taking a slow approach to its coaching search, but Kobe Bryant and Byron Scott have talked in the past few weeks, notes Chris Broussard of ESPN during an interview on the Mike & Mike Show (Audio link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.