Knicks 'right decision' for D'Antoni

Mike D'Antoni said he was convinced the Bulls wanted to hire him. He believes they can win big and insisted money was not an issue.

But in the end, D'Antoni went with a gut decision and decided to spurn the Bulls for the lowly New York Knicks.

The fact that D'Antoni's gut kicked in shortly after leaving a two-hour meeting with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf on Friday may just be a coincidence. But the former Phoenix Suns coach left that part open to interpretation.

"The two teams I was granted permission to talk to, they were both great teams, both great organizations and they would have been super jobs," D'Antoni said Tuesday.

"At that point, it's not a hard decision; it's just trying to make the right decision. For me and my family, the right decision was New York."

D'Antoni said all the right things at an introductory news conference inside Madison Square Garden. He gave more interesting thoughts about turning down the Bulls in an interview with The Sporting News.

"We talked a long time," D'Antoni said of his meeting with Reinsdorf. "He told me this could take awhile. I said I was not in a hurry. But that night I decided, 'This is where I want to go and I don't want to use anybody.' Jerry was feeling me out a little. He was trying to get convinced. We had a good talk.

"Everyone is looking for something sinister, something deeper. But it was just a gut feeling. I usually do that in everything, smart or not. (He and his wife, Laurel) like the idea of being in New York. If I get beat up, hey, I'm a big boy. But I'm excited."

During his news conference, D'Antoni spoke often about his respect for newly hired Knicks president Donnie Walsh, his love of New York and the challenge of taking over a 23-59 team that no one expects to turn around quickly.

D'Antoni maintained that the reason he didn't wait for the Bulls to make an offer was because money wasn't the most important factor.

"I knew Chicago would be up there somewhere," he said. "It doesn't matter. There's no difference between $6 million or $4 million or $5 million. It's all too much."

Reinsdorf, the Bulls' notoriously media unfriendly owner, shared some details of the meeting with The Sporting News.

"We felt the Knicks were out of the picture," Reinsdorf said. "He said he wasn't afraid of Ben Gordon (playing out his contract). He really likes (Joakim) Noah. He likes (Kirk) Hinrich and said he'd tell him he's playing 35 minutes and not coming out if he makes mistakes.

"He did feel you can defend and play up-tempo. He liked (Drew) Gooden. He said he'd be his low-post guy and could be a star. As I was leaving, I said the only thing that could go wrong is if we didn't play defense. Maybe I scared him."

D'Antoni was asked twice during ESPN interviews about Reinsdorf's assertion that he was "misled" during the meeting. Reinsdorf claimed he was told D'Antoni did not want to go to the Knicks.

"I hate that he feels that way, because they've got a great organization," D'Antoni responded. "He's one of the best owners in sports. I hate that, but at the same time, I just made a decision I wanted to come to New York.

"The problem was, everybody thought I wanted to come to Chicago. I never said that. I do like their roster and I really love the city and the organization. But at the same time, New York was a better fit for me right from the beginning."

Without D'Antoni, the Bulls' coaching search continues and probably will extend well into June.