For a second consecutive season, the Warriors are on the market for an assistant coach. Last year, the New Orleans Pelicans hired Alvin Gentry to be their head coach during their first NBA title run since 1975.
This year it was the Lakers, their Pacific Division rival wasted no time after firing Byron Scott to hire their former player, Luke Walton. Not a bad resume for Steve Kerr, he can now pitch to any assistant coach in the league that you are likely to get a head coaching offer if you’re on his staff.
The Warriors have been busy narrowing down the candidates and it looks like they might be close to getting their next assistant coach. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the Warriors have offered the job to one of LeBron’s former coaches:
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has offered his top assistant coaching job to Mike Brown, league sources told The Vertical.
Terms of the deal still need to be worked out, sources said.
Brown has plenty of head coaching experience and had a lot of success with LeBron during their time in Cleveland. Brown didn’t have the same success in his stint with the Lakers, so this could be the perfect job for him to land another head coaching offer.
Brown comes from the Gregg Popovic coaching tree, so he should be able to come into Kerr’s staff and have a smooth transition. The Warriors just have to wait to see if he accepts, but they are not putting all their eggs in one basket. According to Marc Stein of ESPN, Kerr is also interested in Stephen Jackson for the assistant spot:
I’m told Golden State has shown interest in Stephen Jackson in a coaching role . But Jackson, 38, hopes to make a PLAYING return next season
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 29, 2016
I don’t think many people thought Jackson would be on the Warriors’ list of candidates. The former Warrior could be a nice addition to the coaching staff, but Stein also mentions that Jackson is still looking to return to the NBA as a player. At 38 years old, he could have a year or two of good basketball left in him.
It’s going to be an interesting Summer, but it looks like the search for an assistant coach should be over pretty soon.