Report: Warriors not likely to land Kerr

The Golden State Warriors apparently are not holding out much hope of luring Steve Kerr to fill their head coaching vacancy.

The Warriors believe Kerr is too far along in talks with the New York Knicks, who are seeking a replacement for Mike Woodson, to switch gears and put the Warriors at the top of his list, ESPN.com reported Saturday night.

Despite having no head coaching experience, Kerr is reported to be coveted by several NBA teams with openings, including the Utah Jazz. Kerr said he plans to fulfill his broadcast obligations with TNT that run through the Western Conference finals.

If Kerr is indeed out of the Warriors’ picture, Golden State’s top candidate to replace Mark Jackson could be Stan Van Gundy, according to ESPN. Van Gundy has spent the past two seasons in broadcasting and away from coaching.

Does Van Gundy want to return to the bench?

“Part of me does and part of me doesn’t,” Van Gundy said in a radio interview last week. “It would really have to be a great situation for me to get back in. I miss a lot of it. I really do. I miss the competition. I miss the challenge. I miss the camaraderie of it. But I also like the time that I’ve had, so we’ll just have to see what happens. You weigh every situation.

“Names come up on every job, and my name’s been mentioned in a few. But I think the Warrior one comes up because I’m from out there. I went to high school in the Bay Area. I grew up out there. I said several times during my coaching career when we would go play out there that it was always important to me playing out there because I grew up (there).”

Former Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins also was mentioned Saturday as a candidate for the Warriors’ job.