Knicks' Talks With Kerr Drag Toward 4th Week
The N.B.A. has been busy in the weeks since Phil Jackson first met with Steve Kerr last month to discuss the Knicks ' coaching position.
Kevin Durant accepted his first Most Valuable Player trophy while guiding the Oklahoma City Thunder to the cusp of the Western Conference finals.
Donald Sterling, the longtime owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was barred from the league for life for making racist statements. V. Stiviano, the woman who recorded Sterling, introduced herself to the world.
And the Knicks' J. R. Smith took advantage of a premature start to his off-season by playing many rounds of golf. (Based on his Twitter account, he even spent some time with Rory McIlroy.)
As for the Knicks, they have been stuck in a bit of a holding pattern. Wednesday was Day 19 since Jackson, the team's new president, dined with Kerr at a Manhattan restaurant to talk about the team's coaching vacancy - a position that remained unfilled Wednesday night.
The Knicks held a news conference Wednesday, but it was only to unveil the name and logo of their new Development League team based in White Plains. (For the record, the D-League Knicks will henceforth be known as the Westchester Knicks.)
Kerr, who continues to work as an analyst for Turner Sports in the playoffs, did not immediately return a message seeking comment, although he sent a text message over the weekend that said he and the Knicks were 'still talking.' He added, 'Nothing to report.'
Kerr, a former front-office executive with the Phoenix Suns, played for three Chicago Bulls championship teams coached by Jackson, and he has a reputation for being rigorous and methodical, as a man who does his research. He likes to evaluate his options. He appears to have several.
Executives from the Golden State Warriors, who have a coaching vacancy of their own, visited Kerr this week in Oklahoma City, where Kerr was broadcasting a game. The Warriors had been pursuing Stan Van Gundy, but he accepted an offer Wednesday to join the Detroit Pistons as their coach and president for basketball operations.
Kerr, who has never been a head coach, has been Jackson's top choice since the start of the Knicks' search, and Kerr regards Jackson as something of a mentor.
But there are other factors. Kerr lives in San Diego, and his children go to school in California. His daughter, Madeleine, attends U.C. Berkeley, a short drive from the Warriors' practice complex. Unlike the Knicks, the Warriors have a roster built for the playoffs. They fell to the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games in the first round.
The Knicks also have a reputation for operating as something less than a beacon of stability under the owner James L. Dolan, who has nonetheless pledged that Jackson has 'full autonomy' to run the basketball side of the franchise. Whether that has been the case throughout Jackson's pursuit of Kerr is not clear.
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