Golden State majority owner Joe Lacob personally interviewed three candidates before hiring ABC-TV analyst Mark Jackson as his new coach.
Others who were interviewed include Spurs lead assistant Mike Budenholzer and New Orleans assistant Michael Malone.
Tim Kawakami in the San Jose Mercury-News mentions that Lacob to hire Jackson. Malone was close to joining Mike Brown’s new staff with the Lakers. But Lacob apparently sped up the process to hire Jackson and also add Malone to his staff as his lead assistant.
Dallas lead assistant Dwane Casey was left out because of Lacob’s determination to get the hiring done quickly.
Lacob had some interesting comments about his interview with Budenholzer. Here’s what he told Kawakami about it.
-Q: You flew out to talk to a Spur assistant coach…
-LACOB: That was one of them.
-Q: What was the tenor of the conversation like with Budenholzer when you met him?
-LACOB: It was a long, long conversation, because he was late in the process. I think he is technically a very good coach. Excellent.
I didn’t think he was the right fit for our organization at this time. I think he fits very well in the San Antonio organization. He’s been there for 15 years. I think he’s a very, very good coach. He was strongly in consideration, but he’s not the guy we chose.
Sometimes, it turns out that the best moves are the ones that aren’t made.
Budenholzer received a valuable lesson in job interviewing with his dalliance with the Warriors. He comes back to San Antonio as the favorite and most popular choice among most in Spurs Nation to replace Gregg Popovich with the Spurs when he hangs up his whistle.
It’s a lot cheaper to live in San Antonio than San Francisco. Budenholzer’s kids get to remain in their schools.
That’s not a bad consolation prize.