Steve Kerr was ‘close’ to taking New York Knicks’ job

Steve Kerr was “close” to taking the New York Knicks’ job because of his relationship with Phil Jackson but he eventually decided to coach the Golden State Warriors

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Early in the summer, it looked like TNT analyst and former NBA player Steve Kerr would be the next coach of the New York Knicks. His coach in Chicago, Phil Jackson, had just been hired as president of the Knicks and Kerr was his man.

Kerr instead chose to take the Golden State Warriors’s job. However, he did admit he was “close” to taking the Knicks’ job and even told Jackson he was coming at one point.

“I came close,” Kerr told Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. “It was very difficult to turn down. Agonizing. I actually at one point told Phil I was going to come, without knowing anything about contracts and without really talking in detail about certain circumstances. At one point I told him, “I’m coming,” but the caveat that we need to hash the rest of this out. And that’s when the Golden State job opened up and that’s when they were able to contact me and I was able to explore it. The timing was weird.”

Kerr wanted to remain on the west coast with his family.

“New York was very intriguing, especially my relationship with Phil [Jackson] and the opportunity he was presenting me, and the Knicks, the franchise itself and the history,” Kerr said. “But it would have been a really, really difficult situation in terms of the family and being all the way across the country. I just felt better suited to work with these guys here, this younger roster with a more established core. It just felt more comfortable.”

It doesn’t hurt that the Warriors’ roster is far superior. Plus, at the time, there was no guarantee Carmelo Anthony would be back.

Steve Kerr was “close” to taking the New York Knicks’ job because of his relationship with Phil Jackson but he eventually decided to coach the Golden State Warriors

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