May 13, 2011STEINMETZ ARCHIVEWARRIORS PAGEWARRIORS VIDEOMatt SteinmetzCSNBayArea.com
The Warriors have reached out to former Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and former Knicks and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy about their coaching opening, but both declined interviews with the team.
In Van Gundy's case, a source close to him said he was "intrigued" by the Warriors' position but didn't want get back into coaching at this time because of family reasons. According to a separate source, Sloan indicated to the Warriors that he was not likely to coach again.On April 27, the Warriors announced they were not picking up the 2011-12 option on head coach Keith Smart.
Since then, the Warriors have reached out to six known potential candidates. The Warriors have either interviewed or requested permission to interview Dallas assistant coach Dwane Casey and Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Brian Shaw and Chuck Person.
STEINMETZ: Warriors get permission to talk with Lakers' Shaw
The other candidate for the job is former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown.The Warriors are said to also have interest in Boston Celtics assistant and former New Jersey Nets head coach Lawrence Frank.It is unknown when in the process the Warriors contacted Sloan and Van Gundy.Sloan, 69, was in his 23rd year of coaching the Jazz when he resigned in February, the longest tenure of any coach with one team in NBA history. His 1,221 wins rank third on the all-time coaching victories list behind Don Nelson and Lenny Wilkens.Van Gundy who grew up in Martinez, coached the Knicks for parts of seven seasons, making the playoffs six times and getting to the NBA Finals in 1999. He coached four years in Houston -- making the playoffs three seasons -- before stepping down after the 2006-07 season.
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