Vincent Ellis: I also gather #Spurs assistant Ime Udoka and #Raptors assistant Nick Nurse will meet with the #Pistons as well as Kenny Smith in their coaching hunt.
Kenny Smith Rumors
Shams Charania: The Detroit Pistons plan to interview TNT analyst and former NBA champion Kenny Smith for the franchise’s head coaching job, league sources tell Yahoo.
Vincent Goodwill: The Pistons have already had discussions with Kenny Smith about the head coaching position, prior to the NBA combine, according to sources. This could be a signal of intensifying conversation.
The NBA on TNT crew spent time joking around about the latest Google glitch that listed Shaquille O’Neal as a member *NSYNC before Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night. TNT showed reaction tweets from the real members of the boy band. Then, Ernie Johnson asked Shaq if he had anything to do with the glitch, and Shaq’s response had Ernie, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith impressed. “When they were young, they recorded their first album at my house, at the studio at my house — *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys,” Shaq said. “True story.”
Former Memphis coach David Fizdale, former Cleveland coach David Blatt and former Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer are among the candidates whom president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry have met with in recent weeks. Former Golden State coach Mark Jackson, Miami Heat assistant Juwan Howard, San Antonio assistant James Borrego, Toronto G League coach Jerry Stackhouse, Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, Clippers assistant Mike Woodson and television analyst Kenny Smith are among the candidates the Knicks interviewed to replace Jeff Hornacek, who was fired after two seasons as coach in April.
“I think the 18 years I’ve been on TNT has prepared me for a lot of opportunities, coaching being one of them,” Smith said this week on SiriusXM radio. “The preparation, the reservoir of information, relationships – from players to everything, players to coaches to assistant coaches. From being in college basketball doing the Final Four, AAU teams – every element has prepared me for more direction… “As long as it’s basketball it’s always going to be me. Coaching is on the aspiration list. I did meet with the Knicks and that was a lot of fun. They’re still vetting their process. I’m just sitting back. I know that in terms of basketball I’m ready because of the 18 years that went on.”
Kenny Smith says he’s in the “courting stages” for the NY Knicks head coaching job — and says he believes he’s battling 7 other candidates. Smith met with the Knicks last week and tells TMZ Sports it “went well” — but he knows he’s not the only fish in the sea. “We’re in the courting stages. I know they’re courting other people as well.”
