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Poof! Wilkens recants, says he wasn't offered Wizards post
Posted: Saturday May 13, 2000 12:29 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lenny Wilkens, clarifying his position with Michael Jordan, admitted Friday night he "might have been a bit exuberant" when he indicated he had been offered the Washington Wizards coaching job. "Michael has not made any offers to me -- or to anybody," Wilkens told The Associated Press from his home in Seattle. "I might have been a bit exuberant about the facts of my meeting with him. I knew he was going to interview other people, too." In an interview with Fox Sports Net on Thursday, Wilkens said of the Wizards: "They said they would like to have me, no question about it. ... I told Michael I'd get back to him, which I will." Jordan, the Wizards president of basketball operations, responded by telling The Washington Post: "All of the people that I have interviewed are sufficient candidates, but no one has been offered the job." If it were offered, Wilkens might not immediately accept. The 62-year-old coach is also interested in the Vancouver Grizzlies vacancy, which would keep him closer to home. He has also been reported as a possible candidate for the New Jersey opening. Wilkens, who resigned from the Atlanta Hawks last month and is the NBA's career leader with 1,179 coaching victories, told the AP he has received no firm offers from any team. He also said he definitely plans to coach again and is not considering retirement. At least three other candidates are known to be under consideration by Jordan: former Chicago Bulls teammate John Paxson, Golden State assistant coach Rod Higgins and Wizards interim coach Darrell Walker. Jordan has said he would like to hire a coach before the draft lottery on May 21. Another frequently mentioned candidate is St. John's coach Mike Jarvis. However, St. John's officials say Jordan and Jarvis did not discuss the Wizards job when Jordan attended a fund-raiser for Jarvis' charitable foundation on Thursday.
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