The Golden State Warriors say they’ve found the man to coach their team next season. With a 3 year contract, the Warriors have chosen former ESPN analyst Mark Jackson to head up the team.
Jackson has no former NBA coaching experience, yet emerged as the Warriors top choice from a huge list of experienced candidates. Still his 17 years of playing point guard in the NBA makes him a valid candidate for the job.
Jackson played on seven teams during his time in the NBA, racking up a ton of assists. He’s currently third on the all-time assists leaderboard. Likely the coach will be able to deliver some of his wisdom on being a floor general to young developing players like Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry of the Warriors.
Additionally, Jackson, has made the playoffs 14 times out of his 17 seasons in the league. Once again, his experience will likely prove valuable to the young Warriors team, which struggles to make it to the post-season, every year. The Warriors have only made it once into the playoffs since 1994.
Jackson had reportedly been looking for a head coaching job for quite a while. He was previously mentioned as auditioning for head coach of New Orleans, Minnesota, Pheonix New York and Chicago.
This move outs Keith Smart as the head coach in Golden State. Under Smart’s leadership, the Warriors had a 36-46 record. It wasn’t enough to compete for the final playoff spot, but it was a 10 game improvement from last years record.
Jackson will be making his way to the Warriors as soon as he’s done with his duties on ESPN and ABC for the 2011 NBA Finals.