Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:
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Avery Johnson was Knicks team president Donnie Walsh’s second choice to coach Mike D’Antoni. If D’Antoni took the Bulls job, Johnson — and not Mark Jackson — would have become the Knicks head coach in May 2008, bringing his disciplinarian, defensive demeanor.
“From what I was told, yeah [that’s the truth],” Johnson told The Post Wednesday night at San Antonio’s AT&T Center. The Knicks face the Grizzlies tonight (8:00, MSG, ESPN 1050 AM).
Johnson is a coaching free agent, unsure he will coach next season. Johnson might still be on the market if things don’t work out next season for D’Antoni, whose biggest attribute now stands as his recruiting prowess in landing the top-tier free agent class headed by LeBron James.
