10:38pm: Kerr is waiting on a formal, written job offer from the Knicks, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. Kerr is believed to be looking for a four or five year offer similar to the four-year, $24MM contract Mike D’Antoni received from New York in the past.
It’s been reported that Kerr is somewhat uneasy with owner James Dolan’s style of doing business, and Berman’s source says Kerr is concerned that the Knicks haven’t yet produced a contract offer. Nonetheless, New York is expected to do so by the end of tomorrow. Surprisingly, Kerr has decided to finish out the postseason as a TNT analyst even if he is hired as a coach in the near future.
5:40pm: There is a difference of opinion on Kerr’s appeal as a coach between Warriors management and players, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Begley reports that some players aren’t sold on Kerr, a factor that could convince him to settle on the Knicks. Kerr is believed to be with his family “collecting information” and considering his options at the moment, a close friend told Begley.
3:48pm: Kerr told a close friend late Wednesday his preference is to coach the Knicks, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
11:41am: Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv also hears that the Knicks remain the favorites for Kerr, and that the Warriors haven’t made Kerr an offer. A source tells Zagoria that the Warriors are likely to interview several candidates, including Van Gundy.
10:53am: A source tells Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com that the Knicks remain the favorites to hire Steve Kerr, but fellow ESPNNewYork.com scribe Ian Begley writes in a joint report that the Warriors are confident that they have a legitimate shot at landing Kerr instead. Kerr’s admiration for Knicks president Phil Jackson is prompting him to lean toward New York, but his ties to Warriors president and COO Rick Welts are fueling the Warriors hopes, according to Begley.
Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob says that he might interview Kerr, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group reports, but there have been conflicting reports about whether the Warriors have already reached out. Golden State is well aware it can’t offer more money than the Knicks can, Begley writes, but the Warriors are counting on their status as a winning team and their location close to Kerr’s home in San Diego as selling points. The Warriors fear that Kerr is just using them as leverage against the Knicks, according to Begley, but an earlier report cast doubt on that notion.
Lute Olson, Kerr’s college coach and a close confidant, a week ago dismissed the idea that Kerr preferred to stay close to home and said that Kerr would more than likely take the Knicks job, but Olson seemed to take a different stance Wednesday. The former University of Arizona coach said that he was sure that the presence of Kerr’s daughter at the University of California in Berkeley was “tugging at” Kerr, and that he didn’t know what Kerr would decide to do, as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone and Barbara Barker report. Still, Olson told Marc Berman of the New York Post on Wednesday that he feels Jackson is the “trump card” that will lead Kerr to pick New York.
Berman also received confirmation from Suns owner Robert Sarver that Kerr still owns a tiny fraction of the Suns, for whom he served as GM from 2007-10. Kerr would have to sell the share, believed to be less than 1% of the franchise, within a league-mandated time frame after accepting a coaching job with another team, Berman notes.
No other candidates have emerged for the Knicks, but USA Today’s Sam Amick suggests that Jackson is growing impatient as Kerr hesitates. The Warriors are pursuing others, including Stan Van Gundy. The team has been in contact with the former Magic and Heat coach, but this morning he hedged a bit about his reported interest in the Golden State vacancy. Van Gundy made his latest comments on 740 AM radio near his home in the Orlando area, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel notes.
“I have not met with them or anything else,” Van Gundy said. “There have been calls to gauge interest, and until you get a chance to actually talk to somebody, it’s even hard to say if they’re interested or if I would be [interested]. So we’re not at that point of even sitting down and talking yet.”
Van Gundy, who seemed as of late February to be highly unlikely to coach next season because of his desire to be with family, said today that “part of me does, and part of me doesn’t” want to return to coaching. He acknowledged that he was a “huge fan” of the Warriors while growing up in the Bay Area.
George Karl expressed this week that he’s open to any coaching vacancy, and the Warriors have interest in him, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Warriors will consider Karl among as many as eight candidates for their open position, Spears says. Other reports have indicated that the Warriors have interest in 10 coaches: Kerr, Van Gundy, Karl, Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan, Kevin Ollie, Alvin Gentry, Fred Hoiberg, Tom Thibodeau and Lionel Hollins.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.