Reports: Warriors job is Kerr's if he wants it; D'Antoni, Dunleavy also interested

Author:
Brad Rowland
Publish date:
May 7, 2014

Mike D'Antoni and Mike Dunleavy are reportedly interested in the Warriors (Jennifer Pottheiser/Getty Images)

Just hours after the Golden State Warriors fired head coach Mark Jackson, speculation is already beginning to ramp up as to who will be his replacement in the Bay Area. With a quality roster that won 51 games and took the Clippers to a Game 7 in the first round, there is reason to believe that there will be a long list of candidates, and names are beginning to emerge.

Sam Amick of USA Today reports that there is some early interest in the opening, headlined by current TNT analyst and New York Knicks frontrunner Steve Kerr:

TNT analyst Steve Kerr has yet to speak with the Warriors but likely has interest in the job, according to a person familiar with his situation.

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Going even further than Amick, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports the job is Kerr's if he wants it:

According to a league source, Warriors owner Joe Lacob wants to hire Kerr to replace Mark Jackson, who was fired on Tuesday following three successful seasons as Golden State’s head coach. In fact, the Warriors wasted no time reaching out to Kerr, contacting him less than three hours after Jackson was dismissed. And a source maintains that the Warriors’ job is Kerr’s if he wants it.

Kerr's status is very much up in the air after a well-documented pursuit by the Knicks has yielded no final result to this point, and with his status as a West Coast resident, the Warriors job could have some appeal. Golden State possesses one factor -- a playoff-caliber collection of players -- that New York simply can't present at this time, and that could be a factor in attempting to lure Kerr.

In addition to Kerr's reported interested, Amick sheds light on two additional names that could become candidates:

Also interested in the job are former Lakers and New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and former Clippers and Portland coach Mike Dunleavy, according to a person familiar with the situation.

D'Antoni has come under a great deal of fire for his lackluster performance in Los Angeles, but with a guard-driven roster for the Warriors, there could be some reasonable interest on the Golden State side. As for Dunleavy, the 60-year-old hasn't coached in the NBA since 2009-10, when he went 21-28 before being fired by the Los Angeles Clippers.