New York ? Larry Brown’s children were running around their house wearing Knicks gear sent by Isiah Thomas while their 64-year-old unemployed father was preparing to take another look at the pros-and-cons list he and his wife had assembled the night before.

Brown was spending the weekend contemplating whether to become the head coach of the New York Knicks, and in a phone interview Saturday with The Associated Press, he left a strong impression that he was leaning toward taking the job.

“How many opportunities like this present themselves? My family is here, my older kids have family here, I have an opportunity to work with someone in Isiah who’s a special friend and a super person. There’s a lot of real positive things,” Brown said.

The next step could come as soon as Monday when Brown meets with interim Knicks coach Herb Williams, who has spent the spring and summer waiting to learn whether it will be himself, Brown or Phil Jackson coaching the Knicks when training camp opens.

A formal job offer likely would come after Brown met with owner James Dolan and Madison Square Garden president Steve Mills, and his entire job-switching process could be completed in a matter of 9-10 days.

First, though, Brown, who won the NCAA title at Kansas University in 1988, wants to be completely at peace with his decision.

And that will not come until he speaks further with his wife, Shelly, to make sure she fully concurs with a career choice that would thrust her husband back into the coaching grind that his doctors have warned him might not mesh with his health problems.

“I’ve got to get Shelly and the kids onboard and see what’s in everybody’s best interest,” Brown said. “Isiah being there is such a plus, and Shelly has always said it would be great to bring up the kids in the East. But I don’t know. The last 21â2 weeks have been so tough.”

Brown spent Saturday morning playing golf in a country-club match play tournament, advancing to the semifinals after using a birdie-par-par finish to get through his 19-hole quarterfinal the previous day.

He has been sailing in the waters off Long Island and spending quality time with his two young children, T.J. and Madison, while trying to get past the feelings of rejection and betrayal that accompanied his acrimonious departure from the Detroit Pistons.

“I really did have two fabulous years, and whatever happened afterward happened. I’m OK that way, it’s just that you don’t like to feel like you’re a failure and you don’t like your kids to hear you were let go,”‘ Brown said.