Phil Jackson poses during news conference announcing him as the team president of the New York Knicks basketball team at Madison Square Garden in New York
Phil Jackson poses during news conference announcing him as the team president of the New York Knicks basketball team at Madison Square Garden in New York Reuters

The New York Knicks failed to lure one of the greatest shooters in NBA history to become their head coach. The storied franchise is set in chasing another one in Derek Fisher.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Knicks are the frontrunners for the services of the veteran point guard, who once played for current president and general manager Phil Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Knicks’ interest in Fisher is clear. Jackson was fined $25,000 by the league on Monday for “tampering” in comments made by the Zen Master in a press conference which mentioned the possibility of hiring Fisher as the mentor for his ballclub.

“(Fisher) definitely is a person that’s on my list of guys that could be very good candidates for the job,” said Jackson.

NBA tampering rules state that team officials cannot comment publicly on players still under contract for another team. At the time of the Jackson’s statement, Fisher was playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2014 NBA Playoffs.

New York lost the Steve Kerr sweepstakes in mid-May after Kerr signed a more lucrative offer with the Golden State Warriors. Like Fisher, Kerr is familiar with Jackson’s “triangle offense” owing to their time together with the Chicago Bulls in the late 90s.

Another team rumoured to be interested in Fisher are the Los Angeles Lakers although interest in him is not as high considering they already interviewed for other coaching candidates in Mike Dunleavy, Kurt Rambis, Byron Scott and Lionel Hollins.

Fisher’s contract with the Thunder expires after the 2013-2014 season and will be available for interview later this week.