NY Knicks Rumors: Mark Jackson, Derek Fisher & Kurt Rambis Among Top Candidates For Coach After Warriors Hire Steve Kerr

With Steve Kerr now the coach of the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks are expanding their coaching search. Reports indicate Mark Jackson, Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis are among potential candidates Knicks president Phil Jackson will look at.

Kerr, once the purported leading candidate for the Knicks' job, agreed on Wednesday to become the Warriors' next coach. ESPN reported the Knicks will now look at Mark Jackson, Fisher, Rambis, Tyronn Lue, Bill Cartwright, Jim Cleamons, Frank Hamblen and Ron Harper; Jeff Van Gundy and Lionel Hollins are considered long-shots.

Stephen A. Smith of ESPN's "First Take" believes Mark Jackson is the best candidate for the Knicks' job.

"Pick up the phone, call Mark Jackson and offer the former Warriors' coach the job as the next head coach of the New York Knicks," Smith wrote, via ESPN. "It'll be the first thing Jackson has done right since accepting $12 million a year for the next five years as the Knicks' president of basketball operations two months ago. And it needs to be done in a hurry, because, quite honestly, the clock is ticking."

Kerr surprised many by taking the Warriors' job and passing up the chance to reunite with Phil Jackson, whom he has a close relationship with.

"Ultimately, it was agonizing to say no to Phil because of what I think of him and what he's done for my career," Kerr said, via 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. The idea of doing that 3,000 miles from home, it just didn't feel right."

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