Kenny Anderson is trying to work his way back to the NBA from the bottom up. After a year of coaching the Atlanta Krunk in the CBA, his agent, Billy Diamond, sent the following email to several members of the New York media, a portion of which was re-printed by Marc Berman of the New York Post:

"Kenny is trying to get into the NBA as either an Assistant Coach or Director of Player Development. He has been a Mentor to Stephon Marbury since high school. Who better to be a mentor than Kenny who played over a decade in the league in the NYC area. Two months ago, Kenny attended an assistant coaches seminar put on by the NBA and will be coaching/teaching in the Orlando Pre-Draft Camp later this month. Two years ago he was a volunteer assistant coach at St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, near where he lives and this past season he was the head coach of the Atlanta Krunk of the CBA and coaches Steph's brother Zach.''

I'm not sure his year with the Krunk is his proudest accomplishment: his team went 10-41, finishing the season by losing 18 straight. That said, Anderson gets my props for actually trying to gain experience as opposed to some former players (cough, Mark Jackson, cough) who merely hitch a ride on the announcing circuit and hope something falls in their lap.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Need4Sheed: The patented 'Sheed foul reaction, endlessly looping for your enjoyment.

2. Tim Kawakami's Talking Points: Presenting the first annual NBA No-Defense team.

3. Brian Windhorst on the Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James is glad this didn't happen on Mothers' Day.

4. Mitch Lawrence, NY Daily News: Starbury, meet coach D'Antoni. Now pack your bags.

5. Mike Bresnahan, L.A. Times: Ronny Turiaf won't be suspended for that Game 4 flagrant foul.

6. CelticsBlog: I knew Ray Allen was Jesus, but Wally Szczerbiak as Blue Steel?

If you think Bulls fans feel a little jilted by Mike D'Antoni, well, they're not the only ones. Both GM John Paxson and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf left their meetings with D'Antoni last week thinking their discussions were fruitful only to be surprised when D'Antoni agreed to the Knicks job. From K.C. Johnson in the Chicago Tribune:

"I'm disappointed in him," Reinsdorf said. "I don't know what else we could've done. He chose to go to New York knowing there was a good chance we would make him an offer. If he had really wanted to be in Chicago, he would've waited. Instead, he misled us. It's not the end of the world, but it is somewhat rude."

[...] "The second subject, I said if we need to get something done this weekend we shouldn't even bother talking because it will take longer than that," Reinsdorf said. "He said nothing had to be done over the weekend.

"I also said if this proceeds to where we want to make an offer, we don't deal with coach's agents. He said that's not a problem and that money wasn't the most important thing anyway. He said he wanted a job where he was going to be happiest. He said he didn't want to coach the Knicks."

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. FreeDarko: Why Deron WIlliams has it in for Chris Paul.

2. Third Quarter Collapse: Looks like the ref got cold feet on the final play of the Pistons-Magic Game 4.

3. Alan Hahn, Newsday: Did the Knicks hire Mike D'Antoni to entice LeBron James?

4. Ross Siler, Salt Lake Tribune: Ronnie Price doesn't think Ronny Turiaf should be suspended.

5. Hardwood Paroxysm: "I never noticed the Maginot line had rims on it."

6. The Hype Guy: A singing Shaq comes to Will Ferrell's rescue.

One of the first things Donnie Walsh promised to do upon taking over the Knicks was repairing the franchise's fractured relationship with the media. Unfortunately, he's gotten off to a rocky start. When ESPN began reporting that the Knicks were on the verge of signing Mike D'Antoni, Walsh shot down the news to the New York Daily News, calling it "inaccurate" ... when in hindsight, that's exactly what was happening.

As Frank Isola of the Daily News describes it, the quick reversal has resulted in Walsh's "credibility taking a hit," and not among the local press:

Mark Jackson was perceived to be the front-runner in the race for the job, but Walsh did not speak to Jackson after their original interview two weeks ago. According to sources, however, Walsh led Jackson to believe that he was the leading candidate.

A source close to Avery Johnson claims that the former Mavericks head coach also was led to believe that he was the top candidate. On Friday, Walsh was involved in contract negotiations with Johnson's representatives.

In the cases of both Jackson and Johnson, it appears that Walsh was not forthcoming with either. The way things shook out also raises the possibility that Garden chairman James Dolan was involved in the decision-making process.

Mike D'Antoni is apparently, like most people, a big fan of lots and lots of money.

After tweaking the Bulls and Knicks into a two-way race, and after a late-night conference call with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf that apparently dissolved the need for further talks, D'Antoni has made a verbal agreement to become the next head coach of the New York Knicks.

Apparently the sticking point between the two was, predictably, the matter of cold hard cash. The Bulls were rumored to be willing to extend the same amount of control to D'Antoni as the Knicks were, but were hesitant to dish out a huge sum of money to acquire his services. The Knicks, of course, have never really shown such restraint. At least with Donnie Walsh at the helm, the Knicks appear to be committed to throwing around money for the right reasons.

The Knicks deal will play D'Antoni $24 million over 4 years, making him the third highest coach in the league behind Los Angeles' Phil Jackson and San Antonio's Greg Popovich. While the Chicago roster is obviously in better shape than New York's, D'Antoni will be able sleep on a bed of money and still have more control than he would have had in Phoenix.

Donnie Walsh has a difficult choice to make: does he hire Mike D'Antoni, who has a high-profile and a proven track record, or does he roll the dice on Mark Jackson, who has zero head coaching experience but is a local legend? According to multiple reports out of New York, Walsh is still undecided, which is somewhat baffling to me.

I like D'Antoni a lot, but both his coaching style and personality would be a disaster in New York. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News spoke with an unnamed coach who agrees with me:

"He doesn't emphasize defense and he's non-confrontational," said a coach who has worked with D'Antoni. "In New York you've got to have someone who is confrontational and can stand up to these guys. Scott Skiles would have been that guy. And I think Jackson is that guy as well. Mike is an innovative offensive mind but to me he just doesn't fit in New York."

Not only that, but the Knicks simply don't have the personnel to run D'Antoni's system. Sure, they have some athletic spare parts here and there, but so long as Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry are on the floor, no one will ever confuse the Knicks with the Phoenix Suns.

Not so fast, Mark Jackson. New York Knicks team president Donnie Walsh is scheduled to meet with Avery Johnson today to discuss the team's current opening for a head coach. As you may recall, Mark Jackson -- the guy with zero previous coaching experience -- was for some reason the leading candidate for the job not too long ago, but wisely, the team is now exploring all of their options.

Walsh has recently met with (still current!) Suns' head coach Mike D'Antoni, as well as Rick Carlisle (frontrunner for the Mavs' job). I'm not sold on Carlisle, but honestly, D'Antoni and Johnson would both be fantastic choices for the job.

It's not like these two coaches are coming off of losing seasons, or have a history of not being able to perform. In fact, it's just the opposite. Both coaches are coming off of 50+ win seasons, and if not for stupid, panicky mid-season trades, either team could have potentially gone much further in the playoffs. The Knicks would do well to hire either of these two for the position, although based on the current talent on the roster (which the new coach will be stuck with for a while), it would seem that Avery Johnson would be a better fit at the moment.

There's a report this morning -- backed up by an NBA TV talking head last night -- saying Rick Carlisle has been chosen as the next coach of the Dallas Mavericks. We'd accept this as fact if the source weren't Peter Vescey, who in the past week has retracted a column and errantly reported Derrick Coleman needs a heart transplant.

Vescey reports in the New York Post that Carlisle has interviewed with the Knicks on Wednesday, but has since wowed Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson down in Big D. Vescey parroted the same report on NBA TV's postgame festivities last night (via HoopsHype). ESPN.com's Marc Stein (the most plugged-in national reporter when it comes to Dallas) offers Carlisle only as a favorite in the job hunt, one of five candidates Cuban will consider. The Dallas Morning News, for its part, have nothing on the potential hire.

My only concern for the Mavs here: You need some creativity on offense, right? You need a coach who will, at the very least, turn the reins over to Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki and let the points fly, yes? Carlisle spent four seasons in Indiana; here are the Pacers' ranks in leaguewide offensive efficiency each of those seasons, chronologically: 9th, 18th, 21st, 30th. Yep, worst offense in the league in 2006-07. What did Jim O'Brien do with basically the same roster in 2007-08? 19th in the league.

Carlisle can coach defense, and he's not likely to grate on Kidd like Avery Johnson did. But this sure as heck doesn't seem like your typical magical elixir.

A crush of rumors about the future of the Toronto point guard position has been months in the making, first spurred by Jose Calderon's masterful work during T.J. Ford's unfortunate injury absence, then stoked by Ford's (quiet) bristling at coming off the bench behind Calderon. Some Bryan Colangelo comments captured by the Toronto Sun's Frank Zicarelli offer the strongest evidence Ford will be on the market this summer.

Colangelo understands and applauds Ford's desire to be No. 1, but at the same time Colangelo is going to do what's best for the Raptors. "At the end of the day it's how can he and Jose co-exist,'' Colangelo said. "If, in fact, that's a possibility."

Colangelo then added some very telling words. "It's a very safe assumption that Jose will be back in a Raptor uniform."

Calderon's a restricted free agent, and (unless Shawn Marion or Elton Brand opt out) no team will head into July with both cap space and a pressing need at point guard. If that's the case, the only thing that would stop the Raptors from keeping Calderon is Calderon demanding too much money (something that, for some reason, seems unlikely).

Ford's the guy to go, and plenty of towns would invite the upgrade ... for the right price. Injury concerns related to his tricky spine will never disappear; still, he's a fantastic point guard -- one of the fastest guys in the league and an always improving shooter, distributor and passing-lane disruptor. The Knicks, Heat, Clippers (depending on Shaun Livingston), and Kings (depending on Beno Udrih) make sense, on first glance. (Whether Colangelo chases Mike D'Antoni could affect this whole scenario, as well.)