OAKLAND, Calif. — The Warriors just wanted to meet.
Steve Kerr already was several weeks into talks with the Knicks as Phil Jackson’s first choice for the new coach. After the Warriors fired Mark Jackson, Kerr vaulted to the top of their coaching wish list.
“When our opening occurred, we didn’t think we were going to get a meeting with Steve. He said to myself and the rest of our group, ‘I feel I’m down the road with the Knicks. I’d like to play that process out,’ ” Warriors GM Bob Myers said. “Our only effort then was, ‘If you change your mind, we’d still like to meet.’
“We were almost in the mode of, ‘Would you please just meet with us and hear what we have to say? ” Myers said.
It truly looked like Kerr and the Knicks were destined for each other. Kerr was cautioned by some in the industry, told to make sure he met Knicks owner James Dolan. He didn’t, he dealt directly with Jackson.
Kerr admitted he verbally committed to Jackson. The Knicks’ final offer (four years, $17.6 million) Kerr said “was very fair.”
But his heart told him something else. He is a native Californian. His family is here. He had worked with Warrior president/COO Rick Welts when in Phoenix. So much tipped everything the Warriors’ way.
“Phil and I were talking for two weeks before this job even opened up,” Kerr said. “When [the Warriors] let Mark go, they called me. It was, ‘I’ve got to listen.’ ”
Kerr had to listen. His daughter is a volleyball player at Berkeley, his oldest son plays basketball at the University of San Diego. His wife visits Oakland three or four times a week from San Diego — where Kerr’s youngest son, who also makes frequent visits, is finishing high school. And don’t forget the Warriors’ roster.
As broadcast buddy Marv Albert said, “He’s very close to Phil, but I think it was a combination of many things. And in the end, he looked at the rosters.”
Warriors brass had arranged meetings with several candidates. Then came word Kerr would meet. Warriors hierarchy flew to Oklahoma City, where Kerr was scheduled for a TNT broadcast.
“For a long time, we weren’t afforded the opportunity to meet, but near the very end, say two or three days before we hired him, he finally acquiesced and called us and said, ‘I’m open to meeting,’ ” Myers said. “At that point it wasn’t, ‘What changed?’ It was more, ‘Where do you want us to meet you?’”
Within 14 hours, the two sides met in Oklahoma City. Within a half-hour after the meeting, Myers said Warriors brass “looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s hire this guy.’”
The Warriors offered a fifth year ($22 million total), but Kerr is adamant the decision never was about dollars or years. But wasn’t there a verbal commitment to Jackson?
“Yes, there was,” Kerr said. “I told Phil that I was going to come as long as we could work a contract out. And we didn’t ever work a contract out. I was going to go assuming they made a fair offer — which they ultimately did — but during that span when we started to negotiate, the Warriors’ job opened up. So I felt horrible because Phil means so much to me.
“Ultimately, if I would have been unhappy being 3,000 miles from my family going through a really rough rebuilding job, I probably wouldn’t have been a very good coach,” Kerr said.
Kerr admitted the difficulty in telling Jackson. But Jackson understood.
“It wasn’t like they lowballed me. But this was in my heart and I felt it,” Kerr said. “Phil couldn’t have been better. He said, ‘You have to follow your heart. This won’t affect our friendship. I respect what you’re doing.’ That’s why Phil is Phil.”
Nearly halfway through the season, the Warriors are at the top, the Knicks under Derek Fisher are at the bottom.
“I totally feel for [Fisher]. The NBA is a roller coaster. It’s really fun when you win, really devastating when you lose,” Kerr said. “Unfortunately it’s part of the gig, and I guarantee you I’m going to be facing that at some point in my career.”
Just not this year.