After Failing to Get Steve Kerr, New York Knicks Look to Derek Fisher as Next Head Coach
Veteran point guard Derek Fisher has already his next gig ready if he decides to retire from playing basketball: head coach of the New York Knicks.
Fisher, who is still an active player for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2014 NBA Playoffs, is reportedly the leading candidate for the head coaching job in the Big Apple after the Knicks failed to lure Steve Kerr in recent weeks
Kerr, who was the erstwhile front-runner for the Knicks job spurned New York and signed a five-year $25 million deal to coach the Golden State Warriors last Tuesday
Like Kerr, Fisher has zero coaching experience but his connection with Phil Jackson, NY’s president of basketball operations, could be enough to lure him to New York.
"Hiring a coach I don't think it’s important with a timetable," Jackson said in the New York Daily News. "We'd really like to have a coach in our summer league camp, or our summer league games out in Las Vegas in July. That is important to us.”
According to the same website, Jackson’s intent is to put an experienced staff—knowledgeable of his Triangle Offense—around Fisher, if takes the NY deal. Names include Kurt Rambis and Bill Cartwright who has worked in some capacity as Jackson’s assistants and former head coaches in the league as well.
"We're looking for a leader," Jackson added. "Someone who can bring out the best in players, someone who has the capability of encouraging the staff to meet the needs that players have, that philosophically join in, they buy into what we're doing."
Maybe Fisher is the leader the Knicks are looking for. But they have to wait a little bit longer as the veteran is still trying to help out the Thunder get an NBA title. Oklahoma City leads the Los Angeles Clippers, 3-2 in their best-of-seven series.