It turns out potential Knicks coaching target Steve Kerr has been preparing for his coaching debut for quite a while.
Former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, who now is Kerr’s agent, revealed Saturday his client recently flew cross-country to spend a day with Bill Parcells to pick his brain about the coaching profession.
The visit with Parcells was part of a yearlong process by Kerr in which he visited several prominent coaches and executives both inside and outside of basketball to find out what it takes to be a coach.
“Over the past year, he’s had a plan and we’ve talked about it,” Tannenbaum said after appearing at a charity softball game in the East Village. “He sought out coaches that he’s looked up to [in order] to bounce ideas off of them so when that day comes, he’ll be as prepared as possible.”
Kerr is in New York to serve as an analyst for TNT’s broadcast of the Nets-Raptors playoff game Sunday night at Barclays Center. It’s believed Kerr will meet with Phil Jackson about the Knicks’ coaching vacancy while in town, although Tannenbaum would not confirm that.
Before Jackson was hired as Knicks president in March, he was one of the coaches Kerr visited. Tannenbaum said Kerr also visited with his former college coach, Arizona’s Lute Olson and Spurs GM R.C. Buford.
The meeting with Parcells was suggested by Tannenbaum — Parcells was Tannenbaum’s former boss — and came about when Kerr asked his new agent to think creatively.
“He asked me to help him broaden his horizons, just so whenever he gets his opportunity, he can hit the ground running,” Tannenbaum said.