Surprise Surprise. The Knicks, or rather Phil Jackson to be more exact, did not contact James Dolan when the Knicks were in the hunt to hire Steve Kerr as head coach. The New York Post reported that Jackson had initially offered $13.2 million for three years to Kerr. Kerr was seeking more then that. The offer that Jackson said was stuck for a week until the Warriors made a offer of their own on Tuesday. Kerr initially signed a five year deal worth $22 million contract — not the $25 million that was widely reported according to the New York Post.
Upon hearing that the Warriors were in the mix of hiring Kerr, Jackson added an extra year to Kerr's initial contract. Keep in mind that the amount of money he offered was not changed. There were rumors that Kerr didn't want to travel for less money to be head coach. Who can blame him? Kerr never spoke to Dolan during the process, meeting with general manager Steve Mills and basketball operations director Jamie Mathews. The Warriors were actually thinking about hiring Stan Van Gundy, who ended up in Detroit.
It can easily be said that Phil Jackson tried playing low ball and it screwed him over. Kerr has no prior coaching experience, just as the former coach of the Warriors, Mark Jackson did. In three seasons Jackson composed a 121-109 record (.526) and twice led Golden State to the postseason. It's going to be interesting on what system Kerr is going to run and how he will be perceived in the locker room.
