NEW ORLEANS – Jerry Colangelo, the executive director of USA Basketball and former longtime Suns owner, said yesterday he would be interested in interviewing for the Knicks’ presidency this summer if Isiah Thomas is let go, labeling the potential vacancy “a real challenge.”
Colangelo, 68, who has won four Executive of the Year awards and is still a Suns adviser, has been mentioned as a potential candidate.
“If someone calls and wants to have a conversation, I’m open to talk,” Colangelo said yesterday while discussing the U.S. Olympic Team during All-Star weekend. “I like New York.”
When asked by The Post if he liked the Knicks’ situation, Colangelo said: “Do I like the Knicks situation? The Knicks situation is what it is. It would be real challenge. It is a challenge for anyone – present management, ownership or new. But some people like those challenges and some don’t. It’s a big one.”
Knicks owner James Dolan is here attending an NBA technology summit. It’s unclear if Colangelo and Dolan, who have known each other for years through the Board of Governor’s meetings, have seen each other here.
Dolan has repeatedly expressed confidence in Thomas privately and it’s almost a miracle he has yet to pull the trigger. Thomas is expected to finish out the season, but barring a surge after the All-Star break, it seems likely he won’t return next season. The Knicks are 22 games under .500, and likely to miss the playoffs for the fourth straight year while having the NBA’s highest payroll in each of those seasons.
According to a source, Colangelo was in the mix to become Garden president in the early 1980s, but withdrew from consideration because his children were too young to move across country. Colangelo, who grew up in Chicago, began as a Bulls assistant in the 1960s.
One Colangelo friend said, “He’s still got a lot of juice left.”
In December, another potential candidate, Warriors GM Chris Mullin told confidants he felt the Knicks’ job may be too much of a challenge and was afraid he’d ruin his reputation in his hometown of New York if he failed.