The Knicks’ head-coaching job is a “big undertaking,” according to Steve Kerr. In the end, though, it was too big for him.
In a stunner, the Knicks were spurned by Kerr, who accepted the Warriors’ five-year, $25 million offer Wednesday night to be their head coach, according to Mike Tannenbaum, the former Jets general manager and Kerr’s agent.
Kerr, who lives in San Diego, cited proximity to his family for choosing the Warriors, though he told confidants for weeks his relationship with Jackson superseded location. Apparently not.
“Ultimately, it was agonizing to say no to Phil because of what I think of him and what he’s done formy career,” Kerr told NBA.com. “When Phil Jackson asks you to coach the Knicks, how do you say no? I think they’re going to turn it around, but it’s going to be a big undertaking and it’s going to take time.”
TNT, for whom Kerr still works for as an NBA analyst, first reported Kerr’s rejection of the Knicks.
It marked an ominous beginning as team president for Jackson, who had pegged Kerr early on as his one and only candidate to come in and run the triangle offense. On Tuesday, the Knicks had upped their offer to four years at roughly $20 million after being stuck on a three-year offer for several days.
But on Wednesday, the Warriors won the bidding war by going to a fifth year the Knicks apparently would not match. It’s not like owner James Dolan to be outbid for a coach and not surprising Kerr didn’t want to take less money to move across the country.
The Knicks insist Jackson did the bidding, not Dolan. Yet a source two weeks ago told The Post the owner wasn’t overjoyed with Kerr’s lack of head-coaching experience but would approve the hire.
If Jackson let Kerr get away, perhaps he is reconsidering coaching the team himself, which might be a blessing in disguise.
“I’m very surprised,” said Kerr’s former Arizona coach, Lute Olson, who was convinced he was headed to New York. “I think it will be a better situation for him to be closer to home. He has good young players also.”
The Warriors reentered the picture Tuesday after their top choice, Stan Van Gundy, took the Pistons job. The Warriors never made Kerr an offer last week when they initially contacted him.
The Post had reported Tannenbaum was seeking a contract similar to the one given to Mike D’Antoni when he signed a four-year, $24 million package with the Knicks in 2008. Tannenbaum bettered that by $1 million and with one extra year by deftly playing the Warriors against the Knicks
All week, the Knicks remained supremely confident they would still get Kerr, who won three titles playing for Jackson in Chicago and another two under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, but never had been a head coach.
Yet a source close to Kerr told The Post Tuesday afternoon, “they still have a lot of things to work out.’’
Last month Jackson revealed his fiancée, Jeanie Buss, had tried convincing him to coach. Jackson had said he was not healthy enough to do so, but Buss’ encouragement demonstrates his health woes could be exaggerated.
Buss’ argument was coaching is “lower risk for me. Do what you know best type of thing.’’ Jackson said. “I’ve made up my mind on that. [I’m] willful in that regard. I know physically what I can do. I don’t think it’s physically what I can do.’’
Jackson likely will need surgery for a second knee replacement.
“If Phil ever wanted to coach, he can coach,” Dolan told The Post in March. “He’s in charge of all basketball decisions. If one of them is, ‘I want to coach,’ that’s fine with me. I think he would love to coach. But I think he feels he just can’t do the grind.’’
Otherwise, the next-best-thing to Kerr is Derek Fisher, the former Laker who is still playing with Oklahoma City in the playoffs. But Fisher said last month he didn’t want to coach next seasonso he can spend a year with his family after retirement.
Jackson could also go after disciples Jim Cleamons and Kurt Rambis. Bill Cartwright already has been interviewed as an assistant but he could join Kerr, who worked with him in Phoenix when Kerr was the GM there.
Another reason why Kerr rejected the Knicks is he may not have wanted to play Jackson’s triangle offense exclusively. According to a friend of Kerr’s, he is a big fan of the Spurs’ flow offense featuring pick-and-rolls, which fly in the face of the triangle.
Losing Kerr is just the latest blow the Warriors have dealt the Knicks. Golden State grabbed star guard Stephen Curry just one spot before the Knicks’ pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, and forward David Lee still plays for the Warriors after New York dealt him there in 2010 for three players no longer on the roster.