Kerr agrees to coach Warriors

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Update: The Warriors officially announced that they have reached an agreement in principle with Kerr, and Golden State owner Joe Lacob commented on it to Yahoo Sports:

"We love Kerr. Incredibly prepared. We got him because of our players. The Golden State Warriors' future is bright," Joe Lacob says in text.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) May 15, 2014

NBA.com reports that Steve Kerr has turned down the Knicks' offer to join Phil Jackson in New York and will instead accept the Warriors' job.

Stunner: Steve Kerr spurns the Knicks, accepts Warriors' head coach job. Story coming on http://t.co/tv9kc59jsI.

— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) May 15, 2014

Yahoo Sports reports on the size of the deal, and it's a big one:

Steve Kerr has agreed to a 5 year, approximately $25 million deal with Golden State, source tells Yahoo.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 15, 2014

This one is in fact a stunner, as Kerr was thought to be too far in discussions with New York to pull out, especially given his relationship with Jackson. It leaves the Knicks without their primary option who Jackson had spoken with several times over the past few months, dating back to before Jackson joined the Knicks officially.

Meanwhile, the Warriors land a huge get. A former player who can connect with Steph Curry as a shooter, has a strong relationship with the front office, and the most sought-after candidate in coaching circles. It's a massive recoup by the Warriors who were thought to be scrambling after Stan Van Gundy signed with Detroit.

Kerr's family lives in San Diego, and it was thought proximity to them would be a priority. The longer the process drug out, you wondered why it was taking so long.

Steve Kerr picks Golden State over the Big Apple. (USATSI)

Topics: Coaching Changes, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, NBA

Basketball Hot News

Report: NBA still mulling fining Doc Rivers for criticizing referees

Doc Rivers was livid after the Clippers’ Game 5 loss to the Thunder on Tuesday. Among Rivers’ criticism of the officials for the infamous out-of-bounds call:

• “We got robbed because of that call. And it’s clear. Everybody in the arena saw it.”


• “That could be a series-defining call. And that’s not right.”


• “C’mon, they had it in the arena. Of course, you saw it. Steve Kerr was over there shaking his head. Everybody saw it.”


• “I love them. I think all three of those officials are terrific officials. But on that call, they got it wrong. And that’s a game-defining and possibly a series-defining call. And that ain’t right.”

Asked about the NBA’s memos admitting officiating mistakes, Rivers said, “I’ll release the memo. They blew the call. That’s the memo.”

Turns out, the memo actually said, “The play correctly stood as called.”

Objecting to a wrong call does not typically give a coach license – at least from the league – to criticize the referees publicly, but that seemed to be Rivers’ only defense. Without that, there’s little working in his favor.

So, where is Rivers’ fine?

Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com:

As of Wednesday evening, the NBA had still not determined whether Rivers would be fined for publicly criticizing the officiating, according to a league source.

Maybe this is just the difference between David Stern’s NBA and Adam Silver’s.

I believe Jason Kidd is the only coach Silver has fined for criticizing officials so far, and maybe Silver is more lenient than his predecessor. Still, letting Rivers escape a fine here would be far removed from precedent.

I’d guess the league is debating not so much whether to fine Rivers, but how much. The NBA is also surely considering his berating of the officials on the court after the game.

I would be very surprised if the NBA doesn’t fine Rivers, but I’m already surprised it hasn’t happened yet, so who knows at this point?