Rookie center Jerome Jordan became the first Knick to officially hit Europe to play basketball because of the lockout.
With all the rhetoric from Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony about playing overseas ball, the 7-foot Jordan landed in Slovenia Tuesday and participated in his first day of training camp for Krka yesterday. Jordan has an out clause to return to the Knicks if the lockout ever ends.
The Adriatic League season begins in late September with exhibitions starting in two weeks. As The Post reported, Jordan agreed to terms a month ago, but the deal was nearly scrapped because of a dispute over various housing perks.
The center-starved Knicks gave the Bucks $1 million for Jordan’s draft rights after he was selected in 2010 in the second round and are eager to sign their investment after the lockout. During the lockout the Knicks are not permitted to talk to Jordan or agent Todd Ramasar, who could not afford to have Jordan sit out a whole season.
“This gives Jerome the opportunity to be in game shape if the lockout is lifted,” Ramasar told The Post. “You saw with the NFL lockout a lot of guys had early injuries. I’m happy for him. It puts him in good position to develop if you’re looking at a postponed season.”
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Coach Mike D’Antoni is expected to meet with interim president Glen Grunwald tomorrow to finalize the hiring of Mike Woodson as assistant coach, and it finally could become official next week, according to sources.
One reason for the delay in Woodson’s hiring is Grunwald’s been on vacation for two weeks. The Post previously reported Woodson and D’Antoni met in New York on Aug. 2 and was the No. 1 candidate.