One day after Steve Kerr said he “anticipates” speaking to Phil Jackson about the Knicks head-coaching job, Ron Harper told The Post he believes he will interview for a position with the Knicks, as well.
Harper won NBA five titles under Jackson as a combo guard, playing five seasons in Chicago for the new Knicks team president and two seasons with the Lakers. He was also a teammate of Kerr’s in Chicago and Cleveland.
Harper said he has texted with Jackson a few times since he got the Knicks job.
“I would expect so,” Harper said of interviewing for a coaching job. “A few guys are expecting to hear from him. We’re in a wait-and-see mode. Whatever he needs me to do, I will do. He knows that.”
Harper, who lives in Wayne, N.J., works part-time for the NBA doing overseas camps and also helps run a basketball program called Overtime Sports in New Jersey. He was a Pistons assistant coach under Flip Saunders for two seasons in the mid-2000s after playing 15 seasons in the NBA. But he hasn’t been an NBA coach since 2007.
“One thing Phil wants to do is teach what he knows and teach the triangle,” Harper said. “I know it like the back of my hand, inside out, and he knows I love the game.”
Kerr is the leading candidate to replace Mike Woodson, who was fired Monday. There have been a handful of former Jackson players mentioned as potential candidates for the open head coach and assistant positions.
“Phil’s a smart guy,” Harper said. “When you’re president, you try to bring in guys who are close to you. Phil’s got a game plan and only he knows it. We’ll wait and see.”
The triangle is considered too complicated for many coaches to install, but Harper disagrees.
“It’s not hard, it’s just getting five guys on the same page,” Harper said. “You just got to have guys who understand what their roles are, are very good passers, very smart and are interchangeable.”
Will Carmelo Anthony fit in well to the new geometry?
“I definitely think he’s very smart, with a high basketball IQ,” Harper said. “I think it’s been tough for him seeing him get it so far away from the hoop and having to go through two, three, four guys. This way he can be more one-on-one.”
Harper took in five games at the Garden this season and saw the Knicks’ late-game travails, with Anthony often the culprit.
“The triangle is really good for the final four minutes,” Harper said. “They lost a lot of close games where you’d say: ‘What was that play called?’
“One thing about Phil, he will put his stamp on New York basketball. It’ll be hard to do it this summer with the salary cap and no draft picks but in a year or two, when they’re under the cap it will happen.”
Kerr will call the Nets-Raptors game Sunday for TNT, so he’ll be in the city then to potentially meet with Jackson. There have been reports that though Kerr wants to coach the Knicks next season, he would prefer a West Coast team. But will there be a vacancy?
Kerr lives in San Diego and the Lakers should have a job opportunity with Mike D’Antoni on thin ice. However, it seems unlikely Lakers president Jeanie Buss will try to steal Kerr from her fiancée, Jackson. If Mark Jackson gets the Warriors past the Clippers in the first round, it would seem hard to imagine he would be fired. That series is 1-1.
Nevertheless, a Kerr confidant said he probably would listen to other teams, but Jackson stands as clear favorite for Kerr’s services.
“One thing you want to look into is whether Kerr would fully be on board with being away from his family in San Diego,” one NBA source said. “I know even when he ran Phoenix, he many times went back and forth between Phoenix and San Diego and even recently has had trepidations about going back into the NBA because of wanting to spend time with his family.”