New Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr confirmed that he had committed to coaching the New York Knicks, saying he thought he was headed to the Big Apple but added that there was no deal in place for him to coach Carmelo Anthony and company.
On Saturday, Kerr aired his side after his former coach Phil Jackson bared that he had committed to coaching the Knicks. Kerr did not dispute the Zen Master's public pronouncements but made it clear that there was no deal in place.
As quoted by the NY Post, Kerr said during the broadcast of the Game 6 of the Oklahoma City-San Antonio Western Conference finals: "We were very, very close. We never agreed to a deal. But we were very close. Things kind of went back and forth a bit. I thought I was coming there. Phil couldn't have handled it any better. As I said last week, he knew I had to be 100 percent sure and he gave me the space I needed. It was just a better fit - Golden State.''
He added that he had only met with his former coach once, and that their communications were mostly over the phone. Kerr added he never even met the Knicks owner James Dolan.
It seemed that Jackson was so sure he'll have Kerr on the Knicks bench next season that he even told his franchise star Carmelo Anthony that the former Bulls sharpshooter will be the Knicks coach. However, the Golden State Warriors job opening became public and Kerr chose to go west instead of east.
Kerr still appeared to have a lot of respect to his old coach, saying: "I'm not upset he expressed it that way. Ultimately there's got to be a full commitment. It has to feel right and everybody's got to be happy with it. It includes a lot of different things - contractually, structural. We never quite got the whole thing done, but we were very close."
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