NBA rumors: Ex-Warriors coach Mark Jackson wanted Jeff Van Gundy on staff

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Shortly after the Warriors lost Game 7 of their 2014 first-round playoff series to the LA Clippers, the organization fired coach Mark Jackson.

The 55-year-old -- who has not coached since -- potentially is a candidate to become the next coach of the New York Knicks or Brooklyn Nets.

And a recent story from SNY's Ian Begley contained an interesting piece of information regarding Jackson's tenure with Golden State:

When he was a head coach with the Warriors, Jackson wanted to hire (Jeff) Van Gundy as his top assistant, per SNY sources familiar with the matter. Van Gundy was an ESPN analyst at the time. 

It's odd and/or interesting that this would surface six years after Jackson's time with the franchise came to an end.

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And don't forget what owner Joe Lacob said back in December 2014:

"Right now, (Steve Kerr) looks great. I think he will be great. And he did the one big thing that I wanted more than anything else from Mark Jackson he just wouldn't do, in all honesty, which is hire the very best.

"Carte blanche. Take my wallet. Do whatever it is to get the best assistants there are in the world. Period. End of story. Don't want to hear it. And (Jackson's) answer was, 'Well, I have the best staff.' No you don't. And so with Steve, very, very different.

"You can't have a staff underneath you that isn't that good. And if you're going to get better, you've got to have really good assistants. You've got to have people that can be there to replace you. We all know this from all of our companies. It's ... Management 101.

"A lot of people on the outside couldn't understand it when we (fired Jackson)."

So if Jackson truly wanted to hire Van Gundy -- who had head-coaching experience with the Knicks and Houston Rockets -- when did he try to make the hire? Was it right after he got the job in June 2011? Was it after assistant coach Michael Malone left the staff and was hired as head coach of the Kings in June 2013?

[RELATED: Warriors trading top pick is great option, Van Gundy says]

Also, why didn't Van Gundy -- who has been broadcast partners with Jackson at ESPN for years now -- take the job?

The article doesn't answer any of these questions.

So once again -- odd/interesting timing for sure.

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