Houston Rockets assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff is interviewing with Milwaukee Bucks officials on Friday for the franchise's head coaching job, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff has interviewed with the Bucks and Pistons. (Getty Images)This is Bickerstaff's second interview for a head coaching job this week. He met with Detroit general manager Joe Dumars on Tuesday.

Bickerstaff, 34, is likely to be among the coaching considerations for new Phoenix Suns general manager Ryan McDonough, league sources said.

Milwaukee has also met with Nate McMillan and another Houston assistant, Kelvin Sampson. Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Steve Clifford is likely to get an interview with the Bucks in the near future too, sources said.

As the son of longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, J.B. Bickerstaff has been around the profession most of his life. Before joining Kevin McHale's coaching staff in 2011 in Houston, he spent four years as an assistant with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2007-11) and three years with the Charlotte Bobcats (2004-07).

Other

SAN ANTONIO – There were two days until the 2011 NBA draft and a call had come into Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers informing him of a most disturbing development: Under the cloak of secrecy, the San Antonio Spurs had flown in Klay Thompson for a workout and meeting with coach Gregg Popovich.

Myers knew the Spurs had been pursuing a trade into the Toronto Raptors' fifth spot to select center Jonas Valanciunas, because Golden State had been trying to do it, too. Nevertheless, the Raptors' price remained steep and Myers' fresh fear was that the Spurs were cutting a deal to leap over the Warriors' No. 11 pick and take Thompson.

The Warriors wanted Thompson so badly, but the Spurs were lurking, and Golden State knew that Milwaukee wanted to take him at 10. All those Golden State voices in the room – the owner, the legendary consultant, the new coach, the scouting staff and, yes, the agent-turned-GM, Myers – made agreement a difficult proposition.

"Consensus was hard with our

Phil Jackson has rejected the Brooklyn Nets' overtures to take over as coach, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

Phil Jackson would prefer to return to the NBA in a front-office role. (Getty Images)Nets general manager Billy King talked with Jackson on Tuesday, and Jackson, the 11-time champion coach, reaffirmed his desire to pursue a broader front-office role over coaching in his return to the NBA.

Mikhail Prokhorov, the Nets' billionaire owner, was believed to be prepared to make Jackson the highest-paid coach in team history.

Jackson is consulting with the Detroit Pistons on their coaching search, and could ultimately receive an offer from the Toronto Raptors to run that organization.

The Nets had waited for a response from Jackson before embarking on their coaching search, and now will soon start reaching out to candidates.

The Nets lost in seven games to the Chicago Bulls in an Eastern Conference first-round series.

The New York Post first reported Jackson's decision with the Nets.

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Houston Rockets assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff will interview for the Detroit Pistons' head coaching job on Wednesday, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Bickerstaff, 34, has risen rapidly in the eyes of NBA executives as a head coaching candidate.

Bickerstaff will be the fourth known candidate to interview for the Detroit opening. Ex-Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan, San Antonio Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, and Phoenix Suns interim coach Lindsey Hunter have met with Pistons GM Joe Dumars so far.

As the son of longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, J.B. Bickerstaff has long been immersed in the profession. Before joining the Rockets in 2011, he spent four years as an assistant with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2007-'11) and three years under his father with the Charlotte Bobcats (2004-'07).

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SAN ANTONIO – Everyone else on these Golden State Warriors had marched grudgingly into the huddle now, but Stephen Curry's eyes stayed with the shooter. As Manu Ginobili left the floor with 1.2 seconds left in double overtime, he leaped into the arms of Tim Duncan on the San Antonio Spurs' sideline.

All this noise tumbled down onto the AT&T Center floor, all these years washed away, and there Curry stood marveling over the magnificence of Manu's magical moment. All this noise tumbled down out of the rafters, out of those four championship banners, and Curry had begun to consider the consequences of leaving him too much time on the clock, leaving him one more shot to transform this hysteria into a stunned silence.

Stephen Curry had gone for 44 points, had gone within a whisper of Kobe Bryant's playoff record of 45 on the Spurs. Curry had gone wild on the Spurs, but he wouldn't get the final shot, nor the final word on Monday night.

"Yeah, I'll be thinking about the one I didn't get to

The Milwaukee Bucks are planning interviews with Nate McMillan and Kelvin Sampson this week for the franchise's head-coaching job, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Nate McMillan (USA TODAY Sports)McMillan and Sampson, a Houston Rockets assistant, are two of Milwaukee general manager John Hammond's top candidates for the job, league sources said.

McMillan spent parts of 12 seasons as the coach of the Seattle Sonics and Portland Trail Blazers. Before getting fired midway through the 2010-11 season in Portland, McMillan had led the Blazers to three straight playoff appearances.

McMillan recently interviewed with the Detroit Pistons for their coaching opening.

Before joining Kevin McHale's coaching staff in Houston in 2011, Sampson had been on Scott Skiles' coaching staff in Milwaukee for two years. He was a head coach at the college level with Washington St., Oklahoma and Indiana. Hammond is fond of Sampson and has since targeted him as a potential head-coaching candidate in Milwaukee.

Sampson is under consideration for

NEW YORK – All around Derrick Rose, there are these unforgettable images of the way the Chicago Bulls willed themselves into the path of the Miami Heat. All around Rose, there's blood, puke and voices screaming in pain. All around him, these are the reasons for him to tell the truth now.

All around Rose, there's Joakim Noah dragging one good leg across seven games and Nate Robinson heaving into a bucket. All around Rose, there's Kirk Hinrich in a walking boot and Luol Deng fighting to get out of a hospital room and onto the team charter flight.

All around Rose, his teammates are the most inspiring, spectacular substance in the sport now. These Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-93 in Game 7 on Saturday night, and they reached to the ends of the roster, reached beyond reason. Derrick Rose says his injury status is "still up in the air." (USA Today Sports)

For the good of his franchise and fans, for everyone's focus to be where it should belong now – Bulls-Heat, Game 1 on Monday – Rose needs to drop the illusion that his return in these playoffs remains a

NEW YORK – After spending the night in a Chicago-area hospital for complications arising from a spinal tap, Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng returned home on Saturday afternoon, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

Deng couldn't travel with the Bulls for the franchise's Game 7 against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center after getting admitted to the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Luol Deng (AP)

Deng suffered leakage of spinal fluid and several discomforting side effects after getting a spinal tap in his lower back, to test for viral meningitis, before Game 6 on Thursday. Deng had also been suffering from the flu.

He missed Game 6 of the series, along with Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich. Chicago has played without its star point guard, Derrick Rose, the entire season.

Deng had averaged 16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and three assists in the regular season. He's also an elite defender for the Bulls.

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