Warriors Coach Steve Kerr was Close to Signing with New York Knicks Due to Phil Jackson
The Golden State Warriors were already a championship-caliber squad when Steve Kerr assumed the position of Head Coach in 2014. A winning culture was created by the former coach Mark Jackson, which hadn’t existed for a while. Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, had to make a difficult choice on which NBA team’s sideline he would pace in 2014.
According to reports, Kerr came close to joining the New York Knicks, who were coached by Phil Jackson, the former head coach of Kerr’s Chicago Bulls. Steve Kerr is now relishing his role as the head coach of one of the most prestigious and successful NBA teams. But in 2015, he had the option of going in an entirely other direction.
Kerr reportedly received an offer to become the head coach of the New York Knicks, the most valued basketball club in the nation’s most recognizable city. Instead, he accepted a position with the Warriors and had unheard-of success.
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Steve Kerr opens up on signing with the Knicks
“The Warriors were already good, they were already a 50 win team, they had all this young talent. Honestly, if I had taken the Knicks job I would have been fired in 2 years.”
Steve Kerr on why he took the Warriors job in 2014, ahead of the Knicks offer.
Talent is everything. pic.twitter.com/y7OAZpzbAf
— Gboye (@mcgboye) December 10, 2021
When contemplating a position—the Knicks head coaching position—that would have him work under Jackson, Warrior‘s head coach Steve Kerr was questioned about which job he believed Phil Jackson would accept. Kerr claimed that he followed the advice of a trusted friend and accepted the position that he believed Jackson would have accepted, thereby rejecting the former Bull’s head coach.
He was aided by the suggestions of his other coach pals. One, in particular, jumped out, telling him to make the same decision that Jackson would make between the Knicks and a squad that included players like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. The Knicks have gone through seven coaches in the previous ten years, but none of them has had much success with the squad.
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